Common Chipmunk 



339 



Map 14 — Distribution of the Eastern Chipmunk in 

 Manitoba. 



taken at Morden by D. Nicholson, who tells me that It is not 

 rare there. I have seen several specimens that were taken at 

 Portage la Prairie, where it is common. I found it ranging 

 west of Portage la Prairie for about twenty miles, but never got 

 it at Carberry. On the west 

 side of Turtle Mountain, V. 

 Bailey found it common in 

 August, 1887.' North-west- 

 erly, following the line of 

 the old lake shore from 

 Morden, I traced it up to 

 Dauphin, where it seems 

 to be abundant. J. J. G. 

 Rosser tells me that it is 

 plentiful at Winnipegosis 

 and on all high ground of 

 Red Deer Point. This repre- 

 sents its north-western limit 

 as at present known. In Manitoba I have never found it be- 

 yond the limit of the old Agassiz Lake bed (see Maps 14 and 15). 



Log-heaps, stone-piles, broken rocky ridges, wooded envi- 

 banks, and ramshackle outbuildings, in dry, sunny places near ment 

 woodlands, are the chosen places of the Chipmunk. We look 

 for it in vain on open prairie, in gloomy unbroken forests, or in 

 swamps. Though but slightly arboreal, it is at home in the 

 woods, and is usually very local in distribution. A great many 

 will gather at some very attractive spot, while the region 

 around, though appearing to answer their needs, may be 

 without Chipmunks. Sun, food, and a dry, sheltering labyrinth 

 near the ground are the essentials of Chipmunk happiness. 



The home ranee of each individual is undoubtedly very home 

 small. On one occasion in late June, I followed two Chip- 

 munks that left the hole nearly together and set out as though 

 with an object. They travelled to a small knoll covered with 

 oaks, some fifty paces away. At another time (June 15, 1905) 

 I saw a Chipmunk make repeated journeys between a small 



*Rep. Cm. and Mam. Dep. Agr., 1888, p. 437. 



RANGE 



