::::::::s^ THE TROPICS B^""-" 



What cowards they are ! Once we caught a greedy 

 one in broad dayHght, dragging away a heavy piece of 

 meat. As he caught sig'ht of us, the meat dropped 

 from his jaws and he fell over in a dead faint, simulat- 



MKXICAN OPOSSUM "PLAYING POSiiUM' 



ing a death spasm. I hastened to photograph him, 

 knowing the ways of an opossum too well to feel any 

 sym23athy with his apparent agony. Then we hid and 

 watched. Gradually the glaze passed from his half- 

 closed eyes, he raised his head and cautiously stood 

 upright. Again and again he hungrily eyed the meat, 

 but at last some terror seized him, and he scampered 

 away to the jungle as fast as his flat-soled feet could 

 carry him. 



<^ 275 ^ 



