. Mammals of other lands;. Mammals. 3l8 THE LIVING ANIMALS OF THE WORLD. Thtlt ir rori & S<»] Imtting Hill GAIMARD'S RAT-KANGAROO ^ species named after the French naturalist, Gaimard lection for the newly planted or more fully matured potato crops. The most abnormal group of the Kangaroo Family is undoubtedly that of the TreE-KANGAROOS, for- merly supposed to have been limited in its distribution • to the island of New Guinea, but which has within recent years been found to be represented by one or more species in Northern Queensland. At the Melbourne Zoo they have been found, except in
. Mammals of other lands;. Mammals. 3l8 THE LIVING ANIMALS OF THE WORLD. Thtlt ir rori & S<»] Imtting Hill GAIMARD'S RAT-KANGAROO ^ species named after the French naturalist, Gaimard lection for the newly planted or more fully matured potato crops. The most abnormal group of the Kangaroo Family is undoubtedly that of the TreE-KANGAROOS, for- merly supposed to have been limited in its distribution • to the island of New Guinea, but which has within recent years been found to be represented by one or more species in Northern Queensland. At the Melbourne Zoo they have been found, except in the coldest weather, to thrive well in the open — a moderate-sized tree, with a small fenced-in enclosure around it, being admirably suited to their require- ments, at the same time providing a most instructive exhibition of their peculiar forms and idiosyncrasies. Seen at its best, however, the tree-kangaroo, or " boongarry," as it is known amongst the Queensland natives, is a most clumsy, melancholy-looking beast, which has apparently found itself " up a tree," not as the outcome of its personal predilections, but owing to the force majeure of untoward pressure in the form either of relentlessly persecuting enemies or the failure of its normal terrestrial commissariat. Compared with the graceful and superlatively agile tree-frequenting phalangers, between whom and the ordinary kangaroos it has been sometimes, but erroneously, regarded as representing a connecting-link, the boongarry presents a most ungainly contrast. Its climbing powers are of the slowest and most awkward description, the whole of its energies being concentrated on its endeavour to preserve its balance and to retain a tight hold upon the branches of the trees it frequents, and to which it clings with such tenacity with its long sharp claws that it can with dififjculty be detached. In its wild state, moreover, these claws can be very effectively used as weapons of defence; and hence t
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Keywords: ., bookauthorco, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectmammals
