LECTURE HI. 89 



New Holland; but the species first discovered is a 

 native of North-America, and is said to be com- 

 mon in Virginia in particular. It is about the 

 size of a Cat, with very thick fur, of a pale yel- 

 lowish grey colour, and with a naked flesh-co- 

 loured tail, coated with a kind of scales like those 

 on the tail of a rat, but larger. It resides in woods, 

 and preys principally on birds and their eggs. 



Among the New Holland Opossums the Le- 

 murine Opossum is one of the most elegant : of 

 the size of a Cat, of a fine dark-grey colour, yellow- 

 ish beneath; with an exquisitely soft fur, and with 

 a face much resembling the genus Lemur; the tail 

 is long, deeply furred, and prehensile at the tip*. 



A still more elegant kind of New Holland 

 Opossum is the Petaurine Opossum, often mea- 

 suring more than a yard in length from the nose 

 to the tip of the tail. The Petaurine Opossum has 

 the general appearance of a Flying Squirrel, being 

 furnished with a broad furry membrane, from the 

 fore to the hind-feet, by the help of which it springs 



* ThaSqmrrel Opossum or Did. Sciurea is also a New-Hol- 

 land species of great elegance : it is of the size of the Grey or 

 American Squirrel, and is of a pale grey above and white beneath, 

 with the tail very full of hair, and tipped with black. 



