MAILMATTTMTS MAOTCATUS, fyuZd.
'/.G ouZ ciftTui ■ïï'C'J!ichter,il6Let &ût. t. U
HALMATURUS MANICATUS, Gouid.
Black-gloved Wallaby.
H e a d , N e c k , a n d F o r e a r m o f b o t h S e x e s , o f t h e s i z e o f l i f e .
E v e r y naturalist who has diligently worked out a monograph of any group of animals
must have observed that while some conspicuous feature, either of colouring or marking,
pervades all the species, it is much more strongly developed in some of them than in
others; in one, perhaps, it is only faintly indicated, while in another it is bold and
decided. Now, there is a tendency in all the Wallabys to a blackish brown or black
colouring on the hands or the tips of the ears : in some this colouring occurs on both;
in others it is confined to the hands alone. The present animal, which is a native of
Western Australia, may be cited as the species in which this character is carried to its
maximum; for if its fore feet and the tips of its ears had been carefully dipped in ink,
they could not be of a blacker hue, nor could this colouring terminate more abruptly.
That there is no special end or purpose for the fantastic markings of the Kangaroos and
m a n y other animals, beyond mere ornament, I think there cannot be a doubt. Nature
revels in variety, as may be seen in the stripings of the various species of Zebra, the
fantastic markings of the Antelopes, the banding of the Perameles, and a thousand other
creatures. I make no apology for giving full-sized heads of this very pretty species, the
peculiarity of whose markings is not so apparent in the reduced figures.