1450 



THE POUCHED MAMMALS, OR MARSUPIALS 



As regards habits, all the opossums, with the exception of the water opossum, 

 are arboreal, and omnivorous or insectivorous in their diet. They are nocturnal, 

 and spend the day concealed either among the foliage of trees or in hollows in their 

 trunks or boughs. The opossums take the place in America of the Insectivores of 

 the Old World. They are naturally forest-loving animals; but a few are found on 

 the pampas of Argentine, where they have adapted themselves to a terrestrial life. 

 In those species in which the pouch is rudimental or wanting, the young after leav- 

 ing the teats are carried upon the back of their female parent, where they maintain 

 their position by curling their tails round that of their mother, which is bent for- 

 ward for the purpose. Opossums are essentially characteristic of Central and South 



True Opossums 



COMMON OPOSSUM. 



(One-fifth natural size.) 



America, only one out of some twenty-four species ranging into North America, 

 where it extends as far north as the United States. 



The true opossums, of which there are about twenty-four living 

 species, are characterized by the absence of webbing between the 

 toes, and by their arboreal habits. The common or Virginian opossum ( Didelphys 

 marsupialis} is the sole representative of the first group, and likewise the only 

 species found in the northern half of America. It is from three to five times the 

 size of any other species, and characterized by its long, scaly, prehensile tail, and 

 by the fur consisting of a mixture of long bristle-like hairs and a fine under-fur. 

 It may be compared in size to a cat, the length of the head and body reaching 

 twenty-two inches in large specimens, and that of the tail fifteen inches. It is, 

 however, subject to great variation both in size and color, and on this account has 

 received a number of distinct names, the common South- American form being gen- 



