DIDELPHYS VIRGINIANA. 79 



forth in search of foodj attacking birdS;, and sucking 

 their blood like the weasels, or their eggs; they 

 moreover feed upon reptiles and insects, and do not 

 even refuse fruits, — their diet in fact is omnivorous :* 

 specimens which have lived in the menagerie of the 

 Zoological Society, have been fed upon bread and 

 milk. 



One of the Opossums lives in the water, and 

 would appear to be otter-like in its habits. Its feet 

 are large and palmated, from which circumstance it 

 has been separated by Illiger from Tiidelphys, and 

 constitutes his genus Chironectes^ — this animal can 

 scarcely, however, be regarded as constituting a 

 genus, but ought rather to be viewed in the light of 

 a sub-division or sub -genus of Didelphys. It is 

 described in this work under the name of the Yapock. 



VIRGINIAN OPOSSUM. 



Didelphys Virginiana. 

 Didelphis Virginiana, Temminck. 



Description.- — Length of head and body taken 

 together^ 22 inches ;t of tail, 15 inches; fur long 

 and woolly, with very long hairs interspersed with the 

 ordinary fur on the upper parts of the body ; general 

 colour dirty white, with a slight yellow hue; legs 

 dusky brown ; eyes surrounded with the same tint ; 



* The smaller species in all probability feed chiefly upon 

 insects. 



-f Measuring over the curve of the back. 



