Page:Mammals of Australia (Gould), introduction.djvu/36

 dangling tails. With the exception of Tasmania, these rock-lovers dwell everywhere, from north to south, and from east to west. The P. penicillata inhabits New South Wales; the P. xanthopus, South Australia; the P. lateralis, Western Australia; the P. concinna and P. brachyotis, the north-west coast; and the P. inornata, the opposite rocky shores of the east.

The true Wallabies, or Halmaturi, are all brush animals, and are more universally dispersed than any of the other members of the entire family. Tasmania is inhabited by two species, New South Wales by at least five, South Australia by two or three, and Western Australia by the same number; while the genus is represented on the north coast by the H. agilis. It will be clear, then, that the arboreal districts of the south, with their thick and impenetrable brushes, are better adapted for the members of this genus than the hotter country of the north.

The Onychogaleæ are, par excellence, the most elegantly formed and the most beautifully marked members of the whole family, and they are, moreover, as graceful in their actions as in their colouring they are pleasing to the eye. One species, the O. franatæ, inhabits the brigaloe-scrubs of the interior of New South Wales and Queensland, and probably South Australia. The O. lunata plays the same part, and affects very similar situations, in Western Australia; while the O. unguifera, as far as we yet know, is confined to the north-eastern part of the continent.

The Lagorchestes are a group of small hare-like Kangaroos, which dwell in every part of the interior of the southern portion of the mainland, from Swan River on the west to Queensland on the east; one species has, however, been found in the northern districts—the L. Leichardti, as it has been named, in honour of its discoverer, the late intrepid and unfortunate explorer, Dr. Leichardt. They are the greatest leapers and the swiftest runners among small animals I have ever seen; they sleep in forms, or seats, like the Common Hare (Lepus timidus) of Europe, and mostly affect the open grassy ridges, particularly those that are of a stony character. The beautiful L. fasciatus