PARENT AND OFFSPRING 127 



already described in the previous chapter. Imme- 

 diately after birth, the mother with her lips places 

 the tiny little thing in her pouch, where it is attached 

 to a teat, the milk therefrom dropping ceaselessly 

 into its stomach. It goes to sleep there, continuing 

 its development for a time in the pouch. The fur 

 appears and the claws grow; gradually it relaxes its 

 hold on the teat and rolls to the bottom of the pouch, 

 waking up every ten minutes for a tiny drink of milk. 

 At a certain stage of its development the little thing 

 is able to push its head out of the pouch and look 

 around (Fig. 47). Later on, it occasionally comes out 

 altogether; but at the first sign of danger the mother 

 stoops down and opens the pouch widely, whereupon 

 the youngster jumps in head foremost and wriggles 

 round to its normal position with only the head pro- 

 truding. The number of young at a birth varies in 

 the kangaroos, but it is generally one or two. They 

 breed only once a year. The females of the mar- 

 supials have all the eare of the young, generally for 

 about a year; the males appear to take no interest in 

 their families, nor do they share the work of pro- 

 tecting the young. 



Some marsupials have no pouches: the mother 

 lifts up her young ones and attaches them to her teats, 

 which they suck down into their stomachs; they 

 hang on to the mother's body, partly by the teats and 

 partly to her long fur, and thus continue to grow 

 there. When sufficiently developed, they climb on 

 to the mother's shoulder and are carried about. 

 The Koala bear furnishes us with an illustration of 

 this method of carrying (Fig. 48). The American 

 opossums, who give birth to a few young at a time, 



