HAIL MAT TOUT S BRACHXITRUS .
HALMATURUS BRACHYURUS.
Short-tailed Wallaby.
H e a d , A r m s , H in d F o o t , a n d T a i l , o f t h e s i z e o f n a t u r e .
T h e most remarkable feature in the zoology of Australia is, undoubtedly, the great number
of the Kangaroos, and the diversity of their characters, some being conspicuous for their
great size, others for their banded or crescentic markings, and others again for their
sombre hues and their diminutive sizes. Of that section of the family to which the
generic appellation of Halmaturus has been assigned, the Short-tailed Wallaby is the
smallest. Its nearest ally is the H. JBillardieri, to which it assimilates not only in the
shortness of its ears and the shaggy character of its fur, but in its still more sombre
hues, which latter feature indicates that it dwells among grassy and dense herbage, in
swampy and humid situations.
The H. brachyurus is a native of Western Australia, the H. Thetidis of New South
Wales, and the H. Billardieri of islands of Tasmania and Bass’s Straits; and thus we find
these little Wallabys distributed along the whole of the south coast, from east to west.
The exact localities frequented by these animals will be found in the pages accompanying
the entire representations of each of them.