342 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



French, Spanish, and Indian blood with a basis generally 

 emancipated negro. The native is more useful to the naturalist 

 than to the struggling planter, as he objects to all work, thougl 

 he often has a sporting tendency. 



Didelphis marsupialis. Large Manicou. — Ruthless war is 

 waged by all and sundry upon these Opossums, which have a 

 great predilection for poultry. They are to be found in Trinidad, 

 Tobago, and St. Vincent to my knowledge, and in the last-named 

 island I found that on moonlight nights they were to be shot in 

 certain trees, the fruit of which acted as an unfailing lure. 

 I have seen them killed in the day time with a mongrel pack of 

 dogs, but their habits are generally nocturnal. They used to 

 show their carnivorous propensities by eating my trapped victims ; 

 sometimes carrying the trap away also. One female which I 

 dissected carried seven immature young in her pouch. 



Philander trinitatis. The Yellow-eyed Manicou. — Though 

 this little animal was only described by Mr. O. Thomas about 

 three years ago, I found it plentiful and generally distributed 

 wherever I collected. 



Marmoset murina. The Black-eyed Manicou. — This is much 

 the most common of the three marsupials found in Trinidad. 

 Many partially eaten rats in my traps I fancy may be put to their 

 credit, though banana was their favourite bait. One which I 

 caught in a hollow stump in the daylight opened its mouth, and 

 as it showed its teeth " swore " at me in the most unmistakable 

 manner, with a sound like the rasping of a metal comb. It is 

 found in Tobago. 



Dasyprocta aguti. — This animal is the usual species taken in 

 Trinidad ; it is hunted with dogs and eaten by the natives, who 

 will not let their hounds eat the entrails, which they say " dis- 

 agree with them, as they feed on poisonous berries." Whether 

 this is true I know not, but they always carefully disembowel 

 these rodents and hang the intestines out of reach. 



Dasyprocta cristata. — The main difference to the eye in D. 

 aguti is the red rump, which in this species has a markedly 

 yellowish hue. Before I brought the two species back from 

 Trinidad, only the former had been recorded from that island. 

 Both of them give excellent sport, and I have had several good 

 runs with dogs in their pursuit. One that the dogs ran into in 



