Opossum A rmadillo. 



Blackboard Drawing-: Opossum and her Family. Length of 

 body, 20 inches. 



others three on each arm and leg. They seldom touch 

 the ground unless they tumble. 



68. Another very curious little animal found in South 

 America is the ARMADILLO; it wears a kind of coat of 

 mail or hard, horn-like case, into which it can retreat as 

 the snail or the turtle does when it is attacked. In form, 

 head, and tail, it resembles a very big rat, but it is as long 

 as a cat. With its sharp claws, it burrows in the earth for 

 worms and roots. Its flesh is used for food. 



69. There is another animal which resembles a rat and 

 is as big as a cat, and that is the OPOSSUM, which lives 

 in North and South America. It usually hides away in 

 the daytime in hollow trees or in the ground, and steals 

 out at night in search of food berries, fruit, eggs, birds, 

 etc. ; sometimes, too, killing chickens to suck their blood. 

 It is very sly ; when caught, it will make believe dead and 

 cunningly watch its opportunity to escape; this is the 

 origin of the expression " playing 'possum." This animal 

 can cling tightly to the branch of a tree by means of its 

 long, strong tail, which it winds around it when it wants 

 to gather fruit or to seize a little bird for its supper ; but 



