712 



RODENTIA. 



hairs marks the edge of tlie membrane, and the entire abdomen of the 

 animal, together with the throat and the breast, is covered with beautiful 

 silvery grayish-white fur. 



THE MARMOTS. 



From Squirrels which flit through the air with the graceful gliding 

 of a bird, we pass now to the genera composing creatures which burrow 

 in the ground, or pass a more or less subterranean life. 



GENUS TAMIAS. 



The five species of the genus are chiefly North American, ranging from 

 Mexico to Puget Sound on the West, and from Virginia to INIontreal on 

 the East coast. One species is found over all Northern Asia. The 

 animals of this genus differ from the true squirrels in several important 

 particulars. They have a sharp convex nose, adapted to digging in the 

 earth ; they have longer heads, and their ears are set further back than 

 those of squirrels; they have a more slender body, and shorter extrem- 

 ities. They have cheek pouches, and round narrow tails. 



The Chipmuck, Tamias /r^A;-/ (Plate LVI), is also called the Chipping 

 Squirrel or Ground Squirrel. It is found in most parts of the United 

 States, and its beautiful markings attract the attention of all who see it. 

 It is among quadrupeds, what the wren is among birds, lively, busy, 

 agile, and graceful. Its clacking resembles the chip, chip, chip of a 

 voung chicken. "We fancy we see one of these sprightly Chipping 

 Squirrels," writes Audubon, "as he runs before us with the speed of a 

 bird; skewering along a log or fence with his chops distended by the 

 nuts he has gathered, he makes no pause till he reaches the entrance of 

 his subterranean storehouse. Now he stands upright, and his chatter- 

 ing cry is heard, but at the first step we make toward him he disappears. 

 As we remove stone after stone from the aperture leading to his deep 

 burrow, and cut through the tangled roots, we hear his angry querulous 

 tones. We are within a few inches of him, and can see his large dark 

 eyes. But at this moment out he rushfes, and ere we can grab him has 

 passed us, and finds security in some other hiding-place." The same 

 writer caught one of these animals in Louisiana which had sixteen cliin- 

 quapin nuts in its cheek-pouches, and saw another with a table-spoonful 



