THE STUDY OF INDIVIDUALS VERSUS THAT OF TYPES 47 



One time, in a large city, I kept an opossum as a pet for nearly 

 a year. It is a misnomer to speak of him as such, for he never 

 seemed to appreciate in any way the attentions he received. One 

 day in the summer he escaped, and for a time all trace of him 

 was lost. The following spring, hearing that a man several blocks 

 away had killed an opossum which he had caught in his chicken- 

 house, I visited the place and found that it was my unfortunate pet. 

 The man said that he had been missing chickens all winter, but 

 had been unable to find the marauder until he had actually lain in 

 wait for him. The interesting point was to know where the 

 creature had lived all these months following his escape. About 

 half a mile away was a shelving rocky cliff formicd by the construc- 

 tion of a railway tunnel through a hill. It seemed most plausible 

 that he had sought shelter and refuge in this place, but one could 

 not be sure. The important fact was that this stupid (?) little 

 beastie, reared in the wilds of the Blue Ridge Mountains, with cer- 

 tainly no opportunities of knowing city ways, had managed to 

 support himself and remain undiscovered for nearly a year, in the 

 midst of thousands of his most deadly enemies. Could a human 

 being under corresponding circumstances have done any better? 

 Would a Japanese spy get along so well if he tried to live in 

 Russia? \et the opossum took just such chances in staying in the 

 city, and he must have found it necessary to invent some ways of 

 doing things that were new and strange to the " typical ' possum.' " 



It is well known that the members of the pigeon family lay but 

 two eggs. I once found a dove's nest in an apple tree that con- 

 tained but one young one. While it was still quite small the mother 

 dove laid a second ^^%. This one the young dove kept warm until 

 it was finally hatched ; by this time the first one was able to leave 

 the nest. Whether this curious arrangement was made by accident 

 or design it is difficult to say. The only advantage seemed to be 

 in the fact that the nest did not have to be quite so large, nor 

 the food supply at any one time quite so great. I have never seen 

 it noted as being a characteristic habit of doves. 



I recall an instance where a weasel produced a reign of terror 

 in a certain chicken-house, and a reign of indignation in the house- 

 hold, for almiost an entire summer before his whereabouts were 

 discovered. The marauder was known to be a weasel from the 

 peculiar way that the chickens were killed. In each case the throat 



