3 THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 



that they reach the size of a mouse. Their eyes are then 

 opened and they arc covered with hair. They leave the 

 pouch at this period, but, like their relations the little 

 kangaroos, they arc glad to scamper back again to its 

 friendly protection the instant any danger appears. 



Some of the Opossums which are without a pouch are 

 in the habit of taking their families out for an airing in a 

 still more strange manner. They place the little ones on 

 their back and run about over the branches of trees in that 

 way. But, you will ask ? is not this very dangerous? 

 Might not the baby opossums fall off? Well, you must 

 know that they have very long tails, and during their 

 journey the young ones twist their tails round that of 

 their mother, so that, even if they were to slip off her 

 back, they would hang on to the tail. The annexed 

 drawing (Fig 8) represents one of the family, generally 

 known as Merian's opossum, from its having been de- 

 scribed by Madame Merian in the year 1719. 



Another of this family is the Flying Opossum (Fig. 9), so 

 called because the skin on their sides is spread out like a 

 sail between their hind and fore legs, which enables them 

 to sustain themselves in the air during wonderfully long 

 leaps. The one here drawn is a very pretty little creature, 

 about the size of a small rat, and is called the " pygmy 

 petaurus," but some of the family are much larger the 

 squirrel petaurus being sixteen to eighteen inches long. 

 It goes by this name in Australia, to which it belongs, 

 because in several other parts of the world a family of 

 squirrels arc furnished with this flying membrane, and are 

 hence called flying squirrels. You would soon, however, 

 be able to tell whether an .animal which might be shown 

 you belonged to the opossum or squirrel family, for the 

 opossums have by far more teeth, and these are not 

 formed like chisels for cutting wood, but for crushing, &c. ; 

 their food consisting of insects, birds, small reptiles, and 



