MACROPUS FRiENATUS, Gould.
Bridled Kangaroo.
Spec. Char. Macropus vellere molli brevi, colore e fusco dnereo ; corpore subtus albo ; ab occipite utrinque super humeros
lined angustd alba ; interspatio occipiteque nigrescente: caudd tuberculo parvo corneo pilis nigrescentibus abscondito
ad apicem instructd ; tarsis artubusque anticis fe r e albis, digitis pilis obscuris paucis adspersis.
j)escr. Fur short and soft; general- tint of the upper surface grey; under surface white; a white line diverges
from the occiput on each side backwards over the shoulder, and' passes into the white o f the belly a little
behind the insertion of the arms; the space between these lines is blackish brown, narrow at the occiput
and gradually expanding as it approaches the shoulder, where the colour blends into the ordinary tint o f the
upper parts; tail mingled black and white, the black predominating on the upper and under surface of the
extremity; on the chin a small dusky mark; legs whitish; upper surface of the feet mingled black and white;
arms very pale grey, internally white; hands mingled black and white, tinged with brown on the fingers ; inner
surface o f the ears white; a white mark from the tip of the muzzle to beneath the e y e ; on the sides o f the
neck a wash of rich cream colour.
Male. Female.
feet, inches. f e e t inches.
Length from the nose to the extremity of the t a i l ..................... . . 3 7±. . . 2 8£
„ of t a i l ..................................................................................... . 1 7 . . . 1 3
„ „ tarsus and toes, including the nail 6 -J-. . 5
„ „ arm and hand, including the n a i l s ................................ 5 ‘ . 4
„ face from the tip of the nose to the base of the ear 3 £ . . P
I „ e a r ................................’ ........................... • . . . . i | | . n
Macropus frcenatus, Gould in Proe. o f Zool. Soc., Part VIII. p. 92.
T his elegant little Kangaroo, whose weight varies from ten to fifteen pounds, is an inhabitant o f the part of New
Holland to the northward of the Liverpool Plains, and in all probability will hereafter be found to range over a great
extent o f country towards the central portion of Australia.
The paucity o f information that has been obtained respecting the Kangaroos of the interior, particularly those so
strikingly marked as the present species, is somewhat remarkable, considering the number o f scientific men who have at
different periods traversed various portions o f the country which these animals inhabit: as far as I am aware, none of
the works o f Oxley, Sturt or Mitchell make the slightest mention o f the one here represented. On arriving in the
colony, skins of the animal were presented to me by Mr. Stephen and Mr. Charles Coxen, and I afterwards had the
satisfaction of frequently meeting with it in a state o f nature, and o f gaining some information respecting its
habits. The nearest point to the colony at which I encountered it was Brezi, on the river Mokai, whence it extended
into the interior as far as I had an opportunity o f proceeding. It inhabits all the low mountain-ranges similar to those
of Brezi, whose elevation varies from one to five or six hundred feet, and which are o f a sterile character—hot, dry,
stony, and thinly covered with shrub-like stunted trees. These situations are also the abode o f the Halmaturus dorsalis,
with which I sometimes found the Macropus frcenatus associating; but it differs from that species, which is strictly an
inhabitant of the brushes, in frequenting the more open parts and occasionally even the plains. When started from its
seat, which is formed like that o f a hare, and sheltered by a tuft o f grass or a small bush, it bounds away with remarkable
fleetness, generally giving the best dogs a sharp run, and frequently effects its escape by gaining the thick
part o f the brush, or the hole of a decayed tree. And I recollect on one occasion, that on being sharply pressed, the
animal mounted the inside o f the tree, to an opening nearly fifteen feet from the ground, whence it leaped down before
the dogs, and succeeded in reaching the hollow trunk of a fallen tree, from which it was finally taken by the hand.
In the neighbourhood o f Brezi the natives hunt this species with dogs, and often kill it with spears, bommerengs and
other weapons; but at Gundermein, on the Lower Namoi, I found myself among a tribe who succeed in capturing them
with nets, which, although rudely constructed, are very well adapted to the purpose. On being made acquainted with
my object, the tribe were easily induced to accompany me to the Brigaloe brush, in which the present species and the
Halmaturus dorsalis were very abundant: arriving at the skirts o f the brush, the oldest men o f the tribe separated from
the rest, each two taking a net about twenty-five yards long by three and a half feet wide, with which they proceeded to
those parts where the runs o f the animals were most frequent, while the rest o f the natives entered the brush on the
opposite side, to beat the bushes, and with loud shouts and yells drove the Kangaroos towards the nets : by this means
in a single afternoon they obtained for me as many specimens as I required.
This animal always selecting dry ridges entirely devoid o f water, is doubtless the reason o f its being so little known,
such localities being rarely visited by expeditions o f discovery.
Its flesh, like that of the other small Kangaroos, is excellent, and when procurable was eaten by me in preference to
other meat.
The female is considerably smaller in size, but is not distinguished by any difference in marking from the male; the
stripes are quite as intense as in the male, and are even apparent in the foetus.
Its food consists o f grass and various kinds o f herbage.