FAMILY DIDELPHID^E; CHEIRONECTES. 345 



to have been mistaken for them : others are about the size, and 

 have the appearance and habits, of the Rat. The only other genus 



FIG. 170. CRAB-EATING OPOSSUM. 



included in the family of Didelphidae, is the Cheironectes, or 

 Yapock, an inhabitant of the smaller streams and rivers of Brazil 

 and Guiana. This interesting animal bears a strong general resem- 

 blance to the Otter, but is much smaller. It is incapable of climbing, 

 but lives in holes along the banks of the rivers it frequents ; and 

 it is provided with cheek-pouches, in which it stows away the 

 food it obtains in the stream, consisting of fresh-water Crustacea, 

 the larvae of insects, the spawn of fishes, &c. In this genus we 

 do not find an opposable thumb on either foot ; and the toes of 

 the hind- feet are webbed. It differs from the Opossums also, in 



