86 
Quadrupeds. 
THE VIEGINIAN OPOSSUM. 
(Didelphis virginiana.) 
This creature, which is a native of North America, is 
about the size of a cat, and its fur is of a dingy white, 
except the legs, which are brown, and the nose and ears, 
which are yellowish. There is also a brownish circle 
round each eye, and the ears are nearly black at the 
base. 
The Opossum generally lives in trees, suspending itself 
by the tail, by means of which it swings from branch 
to branch. In this manner it catches the insects and 
small birds, on which it generally feeds ; but .sometimes 
it descends from the tree, and invades poultry-yards, 
where it devours the eggs, and sometimes the young 
fowls. It resembles the kangaroo in its pouch for carry- 
ing its young, but in no other particular, as it walks on 
four feet, and its legs are uniform in length; and it has 
a long flexible tail, which is of no use to it either in 
leaping, or as a weapon of defence. The tail is, how- 
ever, of singular use to the young, as when they get too 
large to be carried in the pouch, they fly to their mother 
when alarmed, and twisting their long slender tails 
round hers, leap upon her back. The female Opossum 
may be sometimes seen thus carrying four or five at 
once. 
