Page:The mammals of Australia Gould vol 2.djvu/211

 Müll.

Brown Tree-Kangaroo.

Dendrolagus inustus, Müll. Zoogd. van den Indischen Archipel., part iv. pl. 20; pl. 22. fig. 2, head; pl. 23. figs. 4-6, and pl. 24. fig. 4, skull; figs. 5 & 6, bones of hind-leg.— Gould, Mon. of Macropodida3, pl..—Waterh. Nat. Hist, of Mamm., vol. i. p. 188.

the appearance of the second part of my "Monograph of the Macropodidæ, or Family of Kangaroos," in which I published a reduced figure of this animal, taken from a preserved specimen in the Royal Museum at Leyden, a living example has been transmitted to the Gardens of the Zoological Society of London, and lived there for some years. In disposition it appeared to be more slothful than the terrestrial Kangaroos, as it spent the greater part of the day on the large branch of the tree placed in the cage in which it was kept, and there it would sit for hours together in a moping, sleepy attitude, with its great brush tail coiled round the front of its body; at other times it was somewhat more active, and would then sit erect, with the tail hanging down nearly straight, much after the manner of the Monkeys.

The Dendrolagus inustus is a native of New Guinea, where it was discovered by Dr. W. S. Müller in Triton Bay. The description of the habits of the animal, so long promised by this gentleman, has not yet, I believe, appeared; at least I am unable to find it in any of the great works on the Dutch possessions in the Indian Archipelago, to which I have access.

The following note, respecting the living specimen above mentioned, occurs in Mr. Mitchell's "Popular Guide to the Gardens of the Zoological Society of London," p. 58;—

"The Tree-Kangaroo (Dendrolagus inustus) has only in one instance been brought alive to Europe. This specimen was presented to the Society by Lieut.-Col. Butterworth, C.B., Governor of Singapore. The beautiful modification of structure in the extremities, by which it is enabled to ascend the straightest palm-trees, presents a most instructive contrast, when compared with the same organs in the Kangaroos, which bound in leaps of twenty feet along the ground."

The accompanying drawing, which represents half of the animal of the size of life, was made by Mr. H. C. Richter, from the living example in the Society's Gardens. The entire figure, from the Leyden specimen, is much reduced.

The following is Mr. Waterhouse's careful description of this species, which I transcribe rather than give one of my own, as the animal mentioned was somewhat out of condition when it died:—

"This species is about the same size as D. ursinus, from which it differs not only in being of a brown colour, but in having the muzzle and tarsi rather more elongated, and the ears less densely clothed with fur: the hairs of the back do not so distinctly radiate from a point, rather behind the shoulders, as in D. ursinus; over the shoulders, however, the hairs are directed outwards, and on the back part of the neck they are directed forwards, but are semi-erect, and those of the head are directed backwards. The fur is rather less harsh than in D. ursinus; its general hue is deepish hrown on the upper parts of the body, but here each hair is brown at the base, shaded into brownish-black externally, whilst at the point they are of a very pale brown inclining to white; on the under parts of the body, the exposed portions of the hairs are white, or very nearly so, but in the middle they are of a very pale brown, at the base still paler, and nearly white in some parts; the sides of the head are pale brown, and the upper surface dusky-brown; the muzzle is clothed with very short hairs; the ears tolerably well clothed with longish hairs, brown on the inner side, and dusky on the outer; the limbs are brownish-white, but the hairs on these parts are brown at the root; the hinder part of the haunches and the under surface of the base of the tail are whitish; the tail is well clothed with longish harsh hairs, partly brownish-white and partly pale brown, the general hue being paler than that of the body; all the feet are dusky-brown, pencilled with whitish on the hinder parts."