Plate X1X, 
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The habitat of the Marmot is from the Columbia River far into Alaska and from the 
Pacific to Hudson Bay 
but on the other hand they are characterized by the peculiar 
formation of the fore limbs, since the thumb is reduced to a 
mere rudiment and is provided with a peculiar flat nail. The 
body of the animal is nearly two feet in length with a tail about 
six inches long. The color is grizzly gray with some dark 
markings. The home of the local species is in the region ex- 
tending from the Columbia River to beyond 60° north latitude, 
and eastward to Hudson Bay. An allied species, the yellow- 
bellied marmot (Marmota flaviventris) is found in the southern 
portion of the continent, from Texas to California and New 
Mexico. The marmot of the Olympic Peninsula is by some 
authors regarded as a distinct species, since it differs from its 
relative of the Cascades in certain minor characteristics, but it 
is usually regarded as a mere variety of the more widely rang- 
ing species. 
The habits of the marmot, aside from its unusual whistling 
powers, are similar to those of related burrowing rodents. The 
tunnel made by the animal extends for some distance among 
the crevices of the rocks in the midst of which it makes its home, 
