THE YAPOGK OPOSSUM. 



397 



always takes care to twine its tail firmly round the nearest object that is capable of affording 

 a firm hold, and thus secures itself against any unfortunate slip of its paws. 



On the level ground its pace is slow, and its gait awkward. It is, however, seldom seen 

 upon the ground, as it is unwilling to forego the advantages of its arboreal residence, except 

 for the purpose of obtaining food. Like 

 the Virginian Opossum, it feeds chiefly 

 on animal food, such as the smaller 

 mammalia, birds, reptiles, and insects, and 

 is so fond of Crustacea, that it has been 

 called the Crab-eater from that predilec- 

 tion. As the crabs and other crustaceans 

 on which it feeds are usually found upon 

 low and marshy soils, the Crab-eating 

 Opossum is in the habit of frequenting 

 such localities, and may generally be found 

 in their neighborhood. 



This animal is held in some estimation, 

 as furnishing an agreeable meal to those 

 who care for such diet, and its flesh is said 

 by the initiated to resemble that of the 

 hare. The young of the Crab-eating 

 Opossum are, during their days of infancy, 

 colored very differently from the adult 

 animal. When first they are born, they 

 are entirely naked, but when they are 

 large enough to leave the pouch, they 

 are clothed with short silken hairs of a 

 bnght chestnut brown, which, after a 

 while, fades into the dark brownish-black 

 of the full-grown animal. In all cases the 

 tinting of the fur is rather variable. 



The Crab-eating Opossum is found 

 very numerously in the Brazils, and is spread over the whole of tropical America. 





YAPOCK OPOSSUM. ChetrmuxUs variegatas. 



LAST, and most singular of this group of animals, is the YAPOCK OPOSSUM, a creature 

 which, abandoning the arboreal life in which its relations so much delight, shifts its residence 

 to the river-banks, and passes an existence almost wholly aquatic. 



It is a curious looking animal, and even by the bold markings with which its fur is 

 diversified, is easily distinguishable from any other Opossum. Upon the coat of this animal, 

 the two contrasting hues of gray and sooty-black are so nearly balanced that it is almost 

 impossible to choose either of them as the ground tint and the other as the accessory. 



