DIDELPHYS NUDICAUDATA. 95 



moustaches are not very long, and are of a black 

 colour ; the ears are large, yellowish at the base, 

 and brownish, inclining to black, above ; the hairs 

 covering the feet are brownish ; the fur covering the 

 back part of hinder legs is also brownish ; the scales 

 and hairs of the tail are brown, excepting on the 

 apical portion, where they are white ; the portion 

 covered with white scales is about 5 inches in length, 

 in the specimen from which this description is taken, 

 but it is sometimes less. The female is provided with 

 a pouch. 



Length from nose to root of tail, 13 inches; tail, 

 12^ inches; ear, 1 inch; tarsus, 1 inch 10^ lines; 

 from tip of nose to base of ear, 2 inches 4 lines. 



Observations. — The specimen from Bahia, from 

 which the above description is taken, agrees perfectly 

 in its characters with an animal named Didelphys 

 nudicaudata, in the Paris museum, and is no doubt 

 the species so named by GeofFroy Saint-Hilaire ; but 

 an error having crept into that author's description, as 

 regards the possession of a pouch, M. Temminck, in 

 his Monograph, has given a new name to the species. 

 He, however, states that he himself had fallen into 

 the same error, that is, in supposing the pouch absent 

 in a certain species. Under these circumstances, I 

 have retained the old name, which is well applied, 

 the tail having scarcely any fur on the base, and thus 

 differing from that of some allied species. 



M. Temminck states that this species is very 

 common in Brazil, and is also found in Guiana, but is 

 rarely received from Surinam. 



