148 



piue woods as well as the hummocks. The_v appear to have much 

 the same habits as at the north. 



35. Lepus palustris Bachman. 

 Marsh Rabbit. 

 Common in the marshes of the St. John's River. 



DiDELPHIDiE. 



36. DideJphys Virginiana Shaw. 

 Opossum. 



Common throughout the maiulancl of the state, but does not occur 

 on the Keys. These animals are a decided pest to the inhabitants, 

 for they are prone to rob hen roosts. They are strictly nocturnal, 

 remaining concealed in the trees during the day. 



I have never met with an undomesticated animal so variable in 

 color. Three specimens now before me exhibit the extremes. One, 

 evidently an old individual, is gray throughout, inclining more to 

 white, with no decided black markings, excepting the ears, legs and 

 feet. The latter are black to the nails on some of the toes, while the 

 other claws have a few white hairs at their bases. The tail is entirely 

 white. Another, younger, has dirty white fur with black tips. Nu- 

 merous long white hairs appear over the entire upper surface of the 

 body, giving the animal a singular appearance. The hind legs and 

 feet are black, as in the other specimens, to the nails, excepting a few 

 white hairs at their bases. The front legs and feet are black nearly 

 to the claws. The ears ai'e tipped with white, while the tail is black 

 for the basal third, the remainder white. Another young specimen 

 has tlie l)ase of the fur white, but with the tips so decidedly dark that 

 it nearl}^ conceals the former color, and no one would hesitate to call 

 it a black opossum. Yet its toes are white, there are white markings 

 about the head, and a stripe on the belly is white, with a yellow suf- 

 fusion between the fore legs. Only one-fourth of the basal portion 

 of the tail is black. 



These three represent the widest variation I have ever met with, in 

 point of color, and Mr. J. A. Allen, in the "Bulletin of the Museum 

 of Comparative Zoology" (p. 185), and Dr. Elliott Coues, in tlie "Pro- 

 ceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of riiiladelpliia," for 

 May, 1871, assert that the skulls are also extremely variable. 



Appendix. 



Mammals which were formerly found in Florida. 



According to Bartram the beaver (Castor Canadensis) was formerly 

 found in t^ic state. lie makes mention of it in his travels in Florida, 

 published in 1791. 



