■'^08 SUBKINGDOM VERTEBBAXA. 



Didelphidse.— The Opossum belongs to this Continent, 

 but of the thirty species, only one is found in North Amer- 

 ica. The common variety is about the size of a cat, with a 

 pointed head ; large, naked ears ; sharp teeth ; rough tongue ; 

 long, prehensile tail ; and curved claws.* It is mostly noc- 

 turnal and arboreal, and both herbi vorous fi ad carnivorous. 



^f or tit,. 

 The^ 



erbi vorous fin 

 OTr^jphe 



ORDER MONOTRSFlhe mol* 



G-eneral Characteristics.— The iie,^ ^^^j^ mes, found 

 only in Australia and vicinity, form a ,v,ro i^cting link 

 between the Mammals and Birds. Vi 



The Pnrciipi))c Ant-enter has a nearly cvlTjiCrical beak 

 covered with skin, except at the end, where there is a small 



Fig. 181. 



Echidna hystrlx. Porcupine Ant-eater. ^, 



opening for its long, flexible tongue. It has no teeth, and 

 feeds on insects. Its body is covered with hair and siiines. 

 When surprised, it rolls itself into a ball, or burrows flatwise 

 into the earth with surprising rapidity. 



* Hunting the animal is a favorite sport in some of the Southern States. In the 

 bright moonlight evenings of the autumn, parties go out for this purpose with dogs. 

 The opossum soon hides in the thick branches of a tree ; but, when shaken down rolls 

 into a hall and feigns itself dead ; after a few moments it slowly opens one eye 

 then the other, and if unhindered sneaks away. The young weigh only about four 

 grains when put in the pouch, and are blind and deaf. Within a week their tails 

 become prehensile enough to twine around one another's bodies. In Ave weeks they 

 are nhle to crawl out and are sometimes found on the back of the mother, with theil 

 tails grasping hers, which, in turn, is twisted abont a branch. 



