MAMMALOGY AND OENITHOLOGY. 273 



summer, and great damage done. Fields of clover, of which they are fond, are 

 trampled and cut up, if they are near woods, to an extent only known by the 

 enraged farmer. I have seen many of these fields with well-beaten paths run- 

 ning in all directions made by the rabbits and woodchucks. The Leporidcs are 

 very prolific ; were they not they would soon be exterminated, for they furnish 

 food for man, and are destroyed in great numbers by the carnivorous animals, 

 '^especially lynxes, weasels, and foxes,) rapacious birds, and reptiles. 



RUMINANTIA. 



The animals of this order have peculiarities that constitute this a very natu- 

 ral group. They have in all the families the following common characteristics : 

 No incisors in the upper jaw, their place being supplied by a callosed gum ; 

 eight incisors in the lower jaw ; generally twelve molars in each jaw ; feet 

 bifurcate. These animals, as their name indicates, chew the cud ; that is, they 

 masticate their food a second time. The manner in which this is done is as 

 follows : Their stomach is compound, being composed of four different compart- 

 ments. The food, which is always vegetable in nature, is but little chewed 

 when passed into the first or largest compartment called the " paunch." From 

 this it passes into the second compartment, from which it returns to the mouth 

 where it is completely masticated, and then passed to the third stomach, from 

 that to the fourth, and thence to the intestines. 



In this order are found two of our most valuable domestic animals — horned 

 cattle and sheep. These animals, in their order indigenous to this country, are 

 included in but two families ; Cervidcs in which are placed our moose, elk, and 

 deer, and Cavicornia which includes the goats and bison. The Cervidce are 

 distinguished by solid deciduous horns ; the Cavicornia by permanent hollow 

 horns. These animals are all valuable for food, and for their hides, of which 

 different kinds of leather are made. They are generally wild and retiring in 

 their habits, seldom approaching human habitations. The deer in some districts 

 are injurious by visiting corn and grain fields, which they eat and destroy, 

 sometimes to a considerable amount. They also injure young fruit trees in 

 nurseries by biting off the twigs and gnawing the bark. The theroughness 

 with which they have been hunted has driven them into the most retired and 

 thinly settled districts, and the time is not far distant when they will be extinct 

 in all but the unsettled territories of the continent. 



MARSUPIATA. 



In this curious order, which does not, however, exist in New England, are 

 included those animals the young of which are brought forth prematurely, and 

 received, in most instances, into a peculiar pouch situated on the lower part of 

 the abdomen of the female. This order is represented in this country by the 

 opossums, which are confined to the southern and middle States. The follow- 

 ing interesting account of them is given by Goodrich in his "Illustrated Natu- 

 ral History." He says of the common American opossum : 



' ' It has a pointed head, wide gape, numerous sharp teeth, a rough tongue, ears Lirge and 

 naked, small eyes, the tail long, tapering, flexible and prehensile ; the toes are anned with 

 sharp, strong, cui"v'ed claws. Its size is nearly that of a eat, but the form is low and squat ; 

 the color is a grayish-white; the face near the snout pure white; the oars black. In its 

 habits it is mostly nocturnal and arboreal, feeding alike upon insects, eggs, small birds, and 

 fruit. It sometimes invades the barn-yards and destroys the poultry, it is said, for their 

 blood. It is a good deal hunted, and manifests much dexterity in escaping by creeping 

 away amid the grass, and sometimes pretending to be dead. In defending itself it bites 

 severely. It is sluggish in its movements, and will sometimes lie on its back for hours. It 

 often suspends itself from the branch of a tree by its tall. It is very prolific, producing from 

 six to fifteen at a bisih. The young at this period are well formed, and weigh from three to 

 four grains each. As soon as produced they are shoved into the pouch by the mother with 



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