Page:The Zoologist, 4th series, vol 1 (1897).djvu/242

214 is greatly aided in killing them. Covered with mud from head to foot, to retard perspiration, he either stands in wait at the Kangaroos' camp or sneaks upon an already resting animal, and at a short range easily transfixes it with his spear.

The "Koppo" being the largest Kangaroo in the north, and its flesh highly prized by the natives, the animal is subject to a very vigorous persecution, and in consequence thereof is exceedingly shy and wary—so shy as to be almost unapproachable in certain localities to the European hunter.

To observe this large Kangaroo at a close range is a rare occurrence, and one that very seldom befell me; but one of the lay brothers of the Uniya mission-station on the Daly gave me a few facts from his experience. For a long time the missionaries were living to a great extent on Kangaroo flesh, and, being an excellent shot, it usually fell to the lot of this brother to procure the animals. Armed with a rifle, he would quietly invade the Kangaroo camp. The mob would then flee, and my lay brother, hiding himself amongst the stones, waited in perfect quietness. After some time the animals would return, first the young ones, then the adults, and very soon the camp life would go on as usual. The young animals would, according to his statement, exhibit great agility and playfulness, fight and box each others' ears, whereas the old individuals were more lazy and slow in their movements. An old Kangaroo will, with an utterly comical expression in its stupid face, stretch its huge limbs and scratch its ears like a sleepy man. When an "old man" was wounded it would pluckily attack, and my narrator had made a kind of rough cutlass which he employed in slashing down the wounded Kangaroos to save his small store of ammunition.

At any time of the year young animals which recently have left the pouch are seen accompanying their mothers, and I think this may justify the conclusion that the Macropus antilopinus, like most other marsupials, breeds all the year round.

The Jungle or River Kangaroo, the most common Macropus of the north, is found in countless numbers at nearly every large river in Arnhem Land. The day is spent resting in the shade of the jungle, where the animals, singly and in small droves, stretch