January, 1921] 



The Canadian Field-Naturalist. 



19 



Hemlock stump at the edge of the woods 

 near my camp I placed kernels of corn 

 and raisins on top of the stump, and was 

 rewarded not only by one Chipmunk com- 

 ing to carry off the food but three , and this 

 gave me an opportuuit.y to make a few ob- 

 servations on the social -behaviour of this 

 species. Two of these Chipmunks were 

 very similar in size and coloration, the 

 only difference being that the stripes on 

 the side of the head of one Avere slightly 

 more distinct than those of the other, but 

 the third was easily distinguishable by its 

 duller coloration, slightly larger size and 

 the obscureness of the stripes on the side of 

 the head. I shall call them Nos. 1, 2 and 

 3, in the order named above. 



No. 1 and No. 2 were very friendly and 

 on one occasion I saw them rub noses. No. 

 3 was not amiably disposed towards the 

 others and if either of them Avere on the 

 stump wlien it arrived it chased them away. 

 Sometimes pursued and pursuer would go 

 round and round the stump like a flash of 

 light, exhibiting marvellous agility in 

 racing about on its smooth sides. In their 

 general manner Nos. 1 and 2 were much 

 alike, and neither of them paid much at- 

 tention to me, even when quite close at 

 hand, once they had overcome their first 

 shyness; but No. 3 Avas always "jumpy" 

 and was not noticeably tamer at the end of 

 the period of observation than at the be- 

 ginning. No. 1 Avas the most confiding of 

 the three, and on the third day alloAved me 

 to approach Avithin a foot of it, Avhile on 

 the ninth day it took food from my hand. 



Yellow-jackets (Vespula diaholica) Avere 

 extremely abundant, and manj' came to 

 feed on the raisins and boiled corn that I 

 placed on the stump for the Chipmunks. 

 One day No. 2 Avas stung on the front paAv 

 and shook it violently, then licked it. 



I have seen it asserted that the Chip- 

 munk is a poor climber, and that it rarely 

 ascends trees. Though from past observa- 

 tions I kneAv this to be untrue, I determined 

 to put the climbing ability of this species 

 to a fairly severe test. Making a stake 

 from a very smooth pole of Paper Birch 

 five inches in diameter, I droA'e the stake 

 into the top of the stump, then fastened 

 kernels of corn at intervals up the stake 

 and placed some corn on the top of the 

 stake. No. 1 came along, climbed the stake. 



taking the kernels on its side as it Avent 

 up, and sitting up on the top filled its 

 pouches Avith the corn it found there. Next 

 time it came it hunted over the top of the 

 stump, and finding no corn there, climbed 

 the stake and took the supply I had placed 

 there. Thus this little experiment not only 

 shoAved the climbing ability of this species, 

 and enabled me to take a photograph of it 

 in the act of climbing, but also gave another 

 example, in addition to that reported last 

 year, of the rapidity Avith Avhich the Chip- 

 munk forms associations. 



Do Chipmunks habitually climb to se- 

 cure any of their items of food? In the 

 case of Hazel-nuts (Conjlus rostrata) they 

 certainly do, as the Chipmunks I had under " 

 observation climbed these shrubs, cut off 

 the nuts and carried them aAvay. More- 

 over they do not appear to Avaste any time 

 cutting off bad nuts, as all the nuts left on 

 these bushes after the Chipmunks had 

 visited them proved on examination to be 

 bad. HoAv they distinguish good from bad 

 nuts, and hoAV they deal with these nuts 

 in removing the hulls Avhich are beset so 

 thickly Avith irritating bristles Avhich stick 

 tenaciously in the human skin, are among 

 the feAV thousand things AAe do not knoAv 

 about our common Avild mammals. 



A. Brooker Klugh. 



Archaeological Evidence Concerning 

 THE Presence of the Gray Fox ( Urocyon 

 sp.) in Ontario. Among the animal re- 

 mains found during my exploration last 

 summer of the Uren village site in South 

 Norwich toAvnship, Oxford county, Ont- 

 ario, are several loAver jaws and part of a 

 skull Avhich Dr. Gerritt S. Miller, curator 

 of the Division of Mammals, U. S. National 

 Museum, has identified as those of the Gray 

 Fox (Urocyon). While bones of this ani- 

 mal have been found by archaeologists in 

 Ohio, ' Pennsylvania, - and Connecticut, '' 

 this discovery in Oxford county is prob- 

 ably the only record of its presence in Ont- 

 ario, beyond the vague statement by Au- 

 dubon and Bachman that "in Canada we 

 have heard of its occasional, but rare ap- 

 pearance." * 



The Gray Fox seems to have been as 

 common as the Red Fox, of which Ave also 

 found several bones, but it probably never 



