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The construction of the hind foot, with the soft yielding tuber- 

 cles on the palms, and its long nailless opposing thumb, enable 

 it to use these feet as hands, and the prehensile tail aids it 

 in holding on to the branches of trees, whilst ift body is 

 swinging in the air; in this manner we have observed it gath- 

 ering persimmons with its mouth and fore paws, and devouring 

 them w-hile its head was downward, and its body suspended 

 in the air, holding on sometimes with its hind feet and tail, 

 but often by the tail alone," — Audubon and Bachman. 



A PROLIFIC AND RAPID BREEDER. 



Many curious ;m(l inisrtaken ideas are eiitertaiued 

 about the biTcding of this marsupial. I secured an 

 Opossum in Chester county. Pa., early in the month 

 of ^[arc•h with a foetus in utero. Observations which 

 have been made show that the young remain in the 

 uterus from fifteen to seventeen days — they have no 

 placenta or after birth. — and when born they are 

 assisted by the mother into her pouch where at once 

 they attach themselves to the teats from which they 

 receive nourishment and grow rapidly. The Opossum 

 is exceedingly prolific, producing two or three litters 

 annually. Tlie female when one year cW, it is stated, 

 begins to raise a familv 



AX OMNIVOROUS ANIMAL. 



The Opossum is a voracious feeder and where abnn 

 dant often causes the farmer and poultry raiser much 

 annoyance. Like the Raccoon, he loves green corn. 

 He is fond of chestnuts, and other kinds of mast are 

 consumed by him. He sometimes kills and eats rats, 

 likewise mice, and insects, and he feeds quite exten- 

 sively, hunters and trappers say, on birds and their 

 eggs; he will eat young Rabbits and he feasts 

 on different fruits and berries. Ground-nesting 

 birds such as the Quail. Plieasaiii and other 



