8o REPORT OF NEW JERSEY STATE MUSEUM. 



Genus CiTEi^ivUS Oken. 



Spermophiles. 



These are squirrel-like animals living on the ground or in the 

 burrows which they construct. They abound in the western 

 States, east to the Mississippi Valley. 



Citellus franklin! (Sabine). 



Franklin's Spermophile. 



Plate 34- 



Length 14.80 inches. Hair coarse and harsh; gray above, suf- 

 fused with yellowish brown individual hairs banded with black, 

 below paler; throat white; tail pure gray. 



This little animal was introduced at Tuckerton in May, 1867. 

 A pair that had been brought from Illinois by Mr. Sylvester 

 Mathis escaped from their cage and established themselves in the 

 sandy fields (Coues and Allen Monographs of N. A. Rodentis, 

 1877, p. 883). Since then they have spread as far north as Mana- 

 hawken and west to Speedwell, and though they are not common 

 they still persist and in some places do quite a little damage to 

 crops. Mr. Joseph E. Sapp shot one on his property in Tucker- 

 ton, May 10, 1907, which is now in the collection of the Philadel- 

 phia Academy. The spermophiles have much the habits of the 

 groundhog and the prairie dog, standing upright to watch the sur- 

 rounding country and diving into their burrows on the approach 

 of danger. Some burrows are probably for shelter only, others 

 communicate with the nest and with chambers where grain and 

 other food is stored. In winter these animals hibernate like the 

 groundhog and chipmunk. 



Spermophilus franklini Allen, Mongr. Rodentia, 1877, p. 883. 



Citellus franklini Rhoads, Mam. Pa. and N. J., 1903, p. 221. 



