46 



CHAPTER III. 



THE STORE-KEEPER APLODONTIA LEPORINA AMERICAN DIPPER. 



THE STORE-KEEPEE. 



(Tamias guadrivittatus.') 



ONE of the liveliest, prettiest, merriest, and, to 

 judge from appearances, the happiest little animal 

 one meets with in North-western wilds, is a tiny 

 squirrel, known, and feared by the Indians, who 

 have a name for it, unpronounceable by any 

 mouth of ordinary conformation ; and to attempt 

 writing it is only to give a long list of double and 

 single letters, the type-pattern for spelling Indian 

 words. For example, ch-a-ta la-cli, what can 

 you make of that? Corkscrew the word out, 

 giving it all the throat-sound and tongue-twisting 

 you can manage, and it has as little resemblance 

 to the name, as rolled out from the larynx of a 

 redskin, as the wheeze of a bagpipe has to the 

 clear, rich, mellow note of the mocking-bird. 

 To the scientific world my furry friend is 



