88 THE OPOSSUjMS. 



them of a black colour, but some are white ; the long 

 bristly hairs which spring from the cheeks are white. 

 This species was obtained by the Zoological Society 

 from that part of California which adjoins Mexico. 

 Like the D. cancrivora it has a brown head, the 

 long hairs which are interspersed with the ordi- 

 nary fur, however, are totally white. I do not per- 

 ceive any dark mark on the forehead. 



SHORT-HEADED OPOSSUM. 



Didelphys hreviceps. 



Didelphys breviceps, Bennett. Proceedings of the Zoological 

 Society of London for March 1833, p. 40. 



Description. — Length of head and body 14 inches; 

 tail, 12 inches; from tip of nose to ear, 3 inches 2 

 lines ; ear, 1 inch 1 line ; fore-foot, 1 inch 6 lines ; 

 tarsus, 2 inches. Ordinary fur soft and woolly, white 

 at the base, but black externally, the general tint of 

 the animal, would therefore be black, but the inter- 

 spersed coarser white hairs which are immensely long 

 (some of those on the hinder part of the back measur- 

 ing 3^ inches) are so abundant on the upper part of 

 the head and body, and also on the flanks, that they 

 produce a hoary tint ; the upper surface of the head 

 is brown, of a deeper hue on the mesial line and on 

 the crown ; a broad white mark extends, on either 

 side, from the tip of the muzzle on to the cheeks, 

 and above this is a brownish black mark which runs 

 through the eye : the lower part of the cheeks^ chin 



