POUCHED ANIMALS. 247

with bristles is about four feet, and its feet which are short,

are furnished with strong claws which enable it to excavate

the cavities in which it lives.
The Ant- The true Ant-Eater is found in the South
Hater. American tropics. The Great Ant-Eater belongs
to La Plata, the Little Ant-Eater to the Brazils. The Great

Ant-Eater is four feet in length, without its tail, which is

two feet six inches long. The true ant-eater like the Pan-

golin already described inserts its long tongue into the nest
of the ant, catching its little victims in large numbers by
the sticky mucus which covers its tongue.

ORDER XII. Of the several families classed in this order
Pouchea the opossums and the kangaroos are the most
Animals. familiar. The Dasyures of Tasmania and the

Bandicoots of Australia and New Guinea also belong to this

order, as do the many varieties of the Phalanger of Australasia

and those of the Wombat of Tasmania. The pouch is one
of the most remarkable provisions of Nature, the young of
the pouched animals being small and of imperfect form at
birth and requiring the protection of the pouch for their
sustenance and development.
The The common Opossum, which is a native of
Opossum. Virginia, is about the size of a badger. It is
provided with a pouch, in which it carries its young, and
into which they leap on the approach of danger. Its covering
is a coat of long fur, of a dingy white colour. It feeds upon
fish, birds, insects, and reptiles. Its tailis very muscular, and
by this it hangs from the branches of trees and, watching its
prey, lets itself fall upon its victims with great precision.

Its hind feet are formed something like hands, by which it is

enabled to climb with wonderful facility. The opossum when

caught often simulates death so admirably that he deceives
his captors and ultimately escapes them.

athe The Kangaroo belongs to Australia and New

Kangaroo. Guinea. The length of its body is from four to