. The popular natural history . Zoology. THE KOALA. 113 its captivity. But it is liable, as are many ge"tle animals, to sudden and unexpected gusts of passion, and when it is excited by rage it puts on a very fierce look, and utters sharp and shrill yells in a very threatening manner. Its usual voice is a peculiar soft bark. This animal is rather prettily coloured, the body being furnished with fur of a fine grey colour, warmed with a slight reddish tinge in the adult animal, and fading to a whitish grey in the young. The claws are considerably curved, and black ; and the ears are tufted
. The popular natural history . Zoology. THE KOALA. 113 its captivity. But it is liable, as are many ge"tle animals, to sudden and unexpected gusts of passion, and when it is excited by rage it puts on a very fierce look, and utters sharp and shrill yells in a very threatening manner. Its usual voice is a peculiar soft bark. This animal is rather prettily coloured, the body being furnished with fur of a fine grey colour, warmed with a slight reddish tinge in the adult animal, and fading to a whitish grey in the young. The claws are considerably curved, and black ; and the ears are tufted with long white hairs. In size it equals a small bull-terrier dog, being, when adult, rather more than two feet in length, and about ten inches in height, when standing. The circumference of the body is about eighteen inches, including the fur. ^V^. KOALA, OR AUSTRALIAN BEAR.—t^Phascolaictos dnereus.) On account of the tree-climbing habits of the Koala, it is sometimes called the Australian Monkey as well as the Australian Bear. The animals which come next under consideration are truly worthy of the title of Macropida, or long-footed, as their hinder feet are most remarkable for their comparative length, and in almost every instance are many times longer than the fore-feet. This structure adapts them admirably for leaping, an exercise in which the Kangaroos, as these creatures are familiarly termed, • are pre-eminently excellent. Among the largest of the Macropidae is the celebrated KANGAROO, an animal which is found spread tolerably widely over its native land. This species has also been called by the name of giganteus, on account of its very gi-eat size, which, however, is sometimes exceeded by the Woolly Kangaroo. The average dimensions of an adult male are generally as fol- lows :—The total len'^th of the animal is about seven feet six inches, count- ing from the nose to tlie tip of the tail; the head and body exceed four feet, and the tail is rather more than three f
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjectzoology, bookyear1884
