MARSUPIALIA : KANGAROOS AND OPOSSUMS. 



133 



The hind legs and the tail are long and powerful ; the 

 fore legs very short and weak, and little used in progres- 



FIG. 152. 



FIG. 153. 



Kaugaroo, Macropus major, Shaw. 



sion, which is accomplished mainly by leaping, for which 

 their whole structure is most admirably fitted. They sit 

 mainly upright upon their haunches, supported in part by 

 the tail. Forty species are known, varying from the size 

 of a hare to the size of the domestic sheep. 



All the marsupials of America be- 

 long to the Opossum family or Didel- 

 phididee. Opossums are mostly small 

 animals, the largest scarcely exceeding 

 the common cat, and the smallest but 

 little larger than a mouse. Their food 

 consists of birds, birds' eggs, insects, 

 and other small animals. The tail is 

 long, prehensile, and nearly naked. 

 The Common Opossum of the United 

 States is about twenty inches long to 

 the tail, which is about fifteen inches. 



rr , 1 . . . . . Common Opossum, Didel- 



Llie hair is whitish with brown tips, P h y , 



