PETROGALE ROBUSTA, Goud.
Great Rock Wallaby.

Spec. Char.—Petrogale artubus anticis magnis et prerobustis ; vellere e fusco cinereo, inferne pallidiore ; tarsis fuscis ;
digitis antice nigris ; antipedibus carpisque nigris ; capite fuliginoso leviter tincto ; utraque gend linea albescente
notata ; gula, guttureque albidis ; caudé superne fusca, subtus pallidiore.

Descr—Ma.e. Fur harsh and somewhat shaggy; general colour slate-grey, obscurely washed with brownish, and
tinted with vinous on the outer sides of the thighs; feet dark brown, gradually passing into black on the fore-
part; upper part of the arm brownish; hands and wrists black ; inner surface of the ear white, the exterior
brown ; muzzle and a patch on the chin blackish; a line round the angle of the mouth and the lower lip white ;
throat and fore-part of the neck white, the hairs being grey at the base; under surface like the upper, but
paler; tail blackish brown above, paler beneath.

Femate. General colour silvery grey, obscurely tinted with purplish or vinous on the back; under surface nearly
white; cheeks hoary, witha blackish patch on the chin ; tail dirty white, slightly tinged with brown on the upper
side ; legs paler than the body ; hands brown, becoming nearly black on the fingers ; toes brownish black above.

Male. Female.

feet. inches. feet. inches.
Length from the nose to the extremity of the tail . . - . . - + 7 Oho

3 offal ee ee 2) Oe eee 6
by Carclerancetoess melucimoy the malls tee.) cite ee 12 lee. NOR

> an anduhands smcludimos the nails) = 93 9: 132 ae gt

a ,, face from the tip of the nose to the base OMthecan ee aera Sa 7

a Seal, Seas Se 3

Macropus (Petrogale) robustus, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part VUI. p. 92.
Black Wallaroo of the Colonists.

 

Tue Great Rock Wallaby, which may be considered the Chamois among the Kangaroos, inhabits the summits of sterile
and rocky mountains, seldom descending to the coverts of their sides and never to their base; few, therefore, have had
an opportunity of observing it in a state of nature; indeed there are thousands of persons in Australia who are not even
aware of its existence. Although the south-eastern portion of the continent is, I believe, the only part of the country in
which it has yet been observed, in all probability it has an extensive range northwards. It is tolerably abundant on
the Liverpool range, and I ascertained that it inhabited many of those hills that branch off on either side of this great
mountain-chain, both towards the interior as well as towards the coast.

Like the other members of the genus, the Petrogale robusta is extremely agile among the rocks, and its retreats are
so well chosen among the crags and overhanging ledges, that it is nearly useless to attempt its pursuit and capture with
dogs. Itisa formidable and even dangerous animal to approach, for if so closely pressed that it has no other chance
of escape, it will rush at and force the invader over the edge of the rocks, as the Ibex is said to do under similar
circumstances. Independently of its great muscular power, this animal is rendered still more formidable by the manner
in which it makes use of its teeth, biting its antagonist with great severity.

The Petrogale robusta may be regarded as a gregarious animal, four, six and even more being frequently seen in
company. On one of the mountains near Turi, to the eastward of the Liverpool Plains, it was very numerous ; and from
the nature of this and the other localities in which I observed it, it must possess the power of existing for long periods
without water, that element being rarely to be met with in such situations.

The summits of the hills to which this species resorts soon become intersected by numerous roads and well-trodden
tracks, caused by its repeatedly traversing from one part to the other ; its food consists of grasses and the shoots and
leaves of the low scrubby trees which clothe the hills it frequents.

Although much shorter in stature, and consequently less elegant in form, the fully adult male of this species equals in
weight the largest specimens of Macropus major ; and so remarkable is the difference in the colour and size of the sexes,
that had I not seen them together in a state of nature, I should have considered them to be different species, the black

and powerful male offering so great a contrast to the small and delicate female.