New Publications. 585 



white for the remainder. The fore leg to the malleolus measured 3 

 inches, the hind leg 4 inches. The fur is of a brownish yellow, short 

 and silky, but intermixed with longer hair of white colour and some- 

 what stiff. These white hairs are along the vertebral line from 4 to 5 

 inches in length, intermixed with shorter silky hair, which being black 

 above and white beneath, give it the appearance of a black band 

 stretching from the head along the back to the insertion of the tail. 

 The fore and hind feet are of a dark mouse colour, intermingled with a 

 few white hairs. The ears somewhat compressed at the base, naked, 

 black, and about 1-2 inch in length. Round the eyes is a dark spot of 

 an oblong figure, but otherwise the head is almost entirely of a brown- 

 ish yellow. The neck is covered with the same short fur of a brownish 

 yellow as the belly, while in D. Azarcc it is of a black colour. The 

 specimen which has served me for description was shot in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Georgetown, but as it was the only one of its kind which 

 I ever saw, I hesitate to establish it as a separate species, until I have 

 had opportunity of procuring individuals of the same appearance. It 

 is said to be very common at the coast region, and is called the white 

 Yawarri by the colonists, Nopu by the Warrau Indians, Yawarri by 

 the Arawaks and Macusis. It does great injury to the feathered stock, 

 and frequents the sugar-cane fields, being apparently partial to sweets. 



The black Yawarri {Didelphis quica, Temm.), called so by the colo- 

 nists from its appearance when at rest ; the hair being long and black 

 at the tip, but yellow towards the root. The tail is longer than the 

 body, clothed with hair for one-fourth of its length, the remainder 

 naked and scaly. Its size is that of a marten, but in its head it resem- 

 bles a fox, and the muzzle ends with a whitish spot. I do not possess" 

 an actual measurement, but I should estimate the length of its body 

 about twelve or thirteen inches, and the tail from fifteen to sixteen 

 inches. The latter, which is prehensile, is of great assistance to them 

 in climbing. They are very destructive to poultry and likewise to 

 fruit. They are often found on those savannahs where the wild pine 

 (Bromelia, spec?) flourishes, to the fruit of which they appear to be 

 partial. Like its congeners, the female possesses a pouch in which she 

 carries and suckles her young until they are as large as half-grown 

 rats. They produce from six to seven young at a time. They sleep 

 during the day and hunt at night. They are sometimes eaten by the 

 Creoles and Indians, but as they have a rank and disagreeable smell I 

 doubt if they would prove palatable to us. 



The Didelphis cancrivora is too well known to deserve more than a 

 passing remark ; moreover, I am not able to add anything about its 



