86 Quadrupeds. 



THE VIKGINIAN OPOSSUM. 

 (Didelphis mrgmiana.) 



THIS creature, which is a native of North America, is 

 about the size of a cat, and its fur is of a dingy white, 

 except the legs, which are brown, and the nose and ears, 

 which are yellowish. There is also a brownish circle 

 round each eye, and the ears are nearly black at the 



The Opossum generally lives in trees, suspending itself 

 by the tail, by means of which it swings from branch 

 to branch. In this manner it catches the insects and 

 small birds, on which it generally feeds ; but sometimes 

 it descends from the tree, and invades poultry-yards, 

 where it devours the eggs, and sometimes the young 

 fowls. It resembles the kangaroo in its pouch for carry- 

 ing its young, but in no other particular, as it walks on 

 four feet, and its legs are uniform in length ; and it has 

 a long flexible tail, which is of no use to it either in 

 leaping, or as a weapon of defence. The tail is, how- 

 ever, of singular use to the young, as when they get too 

 large to be carried in the pouch, they fly to their mother 

 when alarmed, and twisting their long slender tails 

 round hers, leap upon her back. The female Opossum 

 may be sometimes seen thus carrying four or five at 

 once. 



