86 A NATURALIST IN TASMANIA ch. 



belong the Kangaroos and Wallabies, Kangaroo 

 Rats, Wombat, the Opossum Mice, &e., and the 

 Australian Opossums, while to the Polyprotodontia 

 belong all the carnivorous Marsupials such as the 

 Tasmanian Tiger and Devil, and the Native Cats 

 (Dasyuridae), the Bandicoots, and also the Ameri- 

 can Opossums ; so that the American Opossums are 

 more closely allied to the Australian Native Cats 

 or Dasyures, than to the Australian Opossums. 



There are two species of Opossums in Tasmania ; 

 the Ring-tailed Opossum (Pseudochirus Cooki), is 

 a small creature with dark grey fur and a white 

 ring round the end of its tail, which makes its 

 nest almost always in a hole of the trunk of 

 a Peppermint Gum, and in this nest frequently 

 three or four adult Opossums will live together. 

 The Brush Opossum [Tridiosurus vulpecula) is 

 a good deal larger, and occurs under two varieties, 

 the one with iron-grey fur, the other of a rich 

 reddish-brown or black colour, the latter being 

 highly prized for its skin. These two varieties 

 apparently may be bred from the same parents, 

 of whatever colour these parents may be. The 

 dark variety is confined to Tasmania, this fuli- 

 ginous colour being frequently found in the 

 Tasmanian Marsupials, which are also generally 

 possessed of finer fur than those on the mainland. 

 The practice of ' Possuming ' is pursued by the 

 shepherds and trappers as a trade during moon- 

 light nights in the winter ; a bushman with whom 

 I went out one night had a small terrier which 



