THE TROPICAL FOREST ES 
parachute. It is stated to show marvellous agility in 
leaping from branch to branch, and is doubtless aided 
by its feather-like tail. 
Another member of the phalanger family, the koala 
or native bear (Phascolarctos cinereus) is very different 
from its allies in appearance, and shows some curious 
adaptations. It is sluggish in its movements, and, as 
often happens in such cases, the tail has disappeared 
(cf. bear, sloth, &c.). In the hand two of the fingers 
can be opposed to the other three, the condition which 
occurs in the chameleon. On the foot, as in other 
phalangers, there are five toes, the great toe being 
opposable to the others. The animal feeds chiefly 
upon leaves, but is also stated to descend to the ground 
in order to dig for roots. Curiously enough, it possesses 
cheek pouches like an Old World monkey. 
The last of the marsupials to be considered are the 
opossums of South America, small insect-eating animals 
with opposable great toes and prehensile tails, which, 
though chiefly South American, are represented in the 
United States by the widely distributed common 
opossum (Didelphys marsupialis). They must be added 
to the very considerable list of peculiar arboreal mam- 
mals possessed by South America, for they do not occur 
outside of the American continent. The majority 
spend their lives in trees, though some spread to the 
pampas of Argentine, and they take the place in nature 
elsewhere occupied by insectivores, which are absent 
from the South American continent (see Fig. 31). 
Birds are so abundant in the tropical forests that we 
can only pick out for special remark a few which illus- 
trate points of interest. In spite of the gloom of the 
jungle brilliantly coloured forms are common, a fact 
well illustrated by the gorgeous birds of paradise, the 
1404 ; H 
