ARCTOMYS CITILLUS. 116 



snows, in companies of from six to fifteen individuals ; 

 biuTowing in the ground, generally on spots sloping to the 

 sun, where it lays up large quantities of grass and moss 

 both for warmth and food. The Marmots pass the greater 

 part of the \^inter in a state of profound torpor, coming- 

 out of their holes in spring ; their cry is well known in 

 the Alps. The female breeds once a year, producing from 

 four to six young at a birth. 



Ts found in the Alps of Switzerland, chiefly in the Can- 

 tons of Uri, Glarus, and the Grisons, but is not uncommon 

 in the Tessin, Yallais, and Bernese Oberland (Tschudi). 

 In several parts of the French Alps ; in Savoy and Pied- 

 mont, and in the mountains of the South of Germany. It 

 is not known in the Pyrenees nor in Spain. 



Subgenus Spermophilus. 

 Arctomys citillus. 



Arctomys citillus, Desm. Mamm. Sp. 524; Pallas, Zoog. Ross. As. 

 Spermophilus citellus, F. Cuvier, 



Desceiptiox. — Head less depressed than in the preceding 

 species ; eyes large, prominent ; ears very short, almost 

 obsolete ; whiskers shorter than the head, black ; on each 

 cheek is a pouch reaching to the neck; body elongate, 

 cylindrical. Fui^ soft and short, brown or reddish grey 

 above, thickly strewn with small white spots more or less 

 distinct ; parts beneath white or yellowish white ; tail 

 slender, covered with hairs of the same colour as the rest 

 of the fur, and sometimes distichous. 



Length (in the male) of head and body, 9 inches 9 lines ; 

 head, 2 inches 5 lines ; ears, 1^ line ; tail, without the 

 hairs, 2 inches 10 lines. — F. M. 



Found singly or in pairs ; burrows in the earth on the 

 sloping sides of mountains. Lays up for the winter a 



