ARCTOMYS MOXAX. 25 I 



made a still larger transfer of materials to form a more luxurious 

 bed." * 



The power of song is not often attributed to mammals lower in 

 the scale than ourselves, and yet it is a fact that several species 

 are capable of producing musical notes which are pleasing to the 

 ear. In the American Naturalist for June, 1872 (Vol. VI, No. 6, 

 pp. 365-366), is an article from the pen of Dr. A. Kellogg, entitled 

 " Singing Maryland Marmot" The writer states : " For the last 

 forty years the fact of the common Maryland Marmot, or Wood- 

 chuck, being able to sing like a canary bird, but in a softer, sweeter 

 note, has been quite familiar to myself, and others who could be 

 brought forward as witnesses." He then speaks of a very young 

 Woodchuck which he raised, and goes on to say : " It had a seat 

 in the little high chair at the children's table full oft. Its earnest 

 and restless concupiscent purr as it scented sweet cake and fragrant 

 viands was wonderful. At length it became as familiar as the 



o 



family cat and finally burrowed under the doorstep. My impres- 

 sion is now, and has always been, that it was a female. I used to 

 watch the pet very closely to see how it sang, as children are apt 

 to do. There was a slight moving of the nostrils and lips and 



^j <_> 



consequently whiskers with an air of unmistakable happy or serene 

 enjoyment. I question much if this is altogether unknown to 

 others, always excepting naturalists" 



Woodchucks are so abundant in some parts of New Hampshire 

 that the farmers have long demanded legislative aid for their 

 riddance. At length the clamors from this source became so loud 

 and continuous that the Legislature was forced to recognize the 



* American Natural History, Vol. I, 1842, p. 329. In treating of the habits of this species, Dr. 

 Godman makes some very astonishing statements, statements that are wholly incorrect as applied 

 to it in this region, though possibly true in some parts of its extensive habitat. His figure bears 

 as close a resemblance to the wolverine as it does to the Woodchuck, and yet, strangely enough, 

 he speaks thus of those of his predecessors : "All the figures which have been heretofore pub- 

 lished of this animal (with the exception of one given in the English translation of Cuvier, borrowed 

 from a drawing by Le Sueur) have been copied from Edward's, which is altogether unlike the 

 animal " (pp. 330-331). 



17 



