465 
DIDELPHYS VIRGINIANA. 
Virginian Opossum. 
Virginian Opossum . Pennant, Synopsis of Quadrupeds, p. 204, PL 31, 
f. 1. 7171. 
Didelphis Virginiana. Shaw, General Zool. vol. i. Pt. 2, p. 473, PL 107. 
1800. 
“ lt Temminck, Monogr. de Mammalogie, tom. i. p. 27. 
Sarigue des Illinois el Sarigue a longs poih . Buffon, Quad. Suppl. vol, 7, 
Pis. 33 and 34. 
Sarigue a oreilles bicolores. Cuvier, Regne Animal, tom. i. p. 175. 
Fur long, loose, and somewhat woolly ; white, the tips of the 
hairs more or less suffused with brown-black : numerous 
long interspersed white hairs, mixed with those of the ordi¬ 
nary fur: a dusky patch at the anterior angle of the eye: 
ears naked, black, w ith the tip white : tail having the naked 
portion at first black, but terminated with w T hite: legs and 
feet brown, or brown-black. 
Inhabits North America. 
The Virginian Opossum is one of the largest species of its 
genus, being about equal in bulk to the Common Cat. It 
has a large, elongated, and pointed head, terminated by a 
naked, and flesh-coloured muffle. The ears are tolerably 
large, oval-shaped, and naked, and from their black colour 
form a strong contrast with the white head of the animal. 
The tail is nearly equal to the body in length ; at the base it 
is clothed with fur like that on the body, this occupying one- 
fourth of the entire length; the remaining portion is pro¬ 
tected by a scaly skin, and between the small scales, which 
nearly resemble those of the tail of the Rat, are some very 
small hairs: of the scaly portion, the first, or basal half, is 
black, and the terminal half, "white ; or sometimes about 
VOL. i. 
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