NATURAL H1S-.ORY. 



119 



" This purpose is sometimes carried on by a sort of migratory 

 instinct, sometime* by the spirit of conquest ; at one time avarice 

 tirives men from their .homes, at another they are actuated by a 

 thirst of knowledge." BURKE. 



371. Wliy has the hamster such enormous cheek pouches ? 

 Hamsters are a genus of rodent animals, remarkable for 



the possession of cheek 

 pouches, which in some 

 of the species are of con- 

 siderable size. The one 

 figured in the illustra- 

 tion* has pouches so large 

 that they will hold a 

 quarter of a pint. These 

 pouches are useful <*s 

 stores of food for the 

 animal, which inhabits the 

 sandy districts of the North 

 of Europe and Asia, Austria, Silesia, and many parts of Germany, 

 Poland, &c., is liable to periods of deprivation from food, and also 

 undergoes an imperfect winter hybernation. 



372. The quantity of grain which they consume is very great. On the approach 

 of winter, the hamster retires into his subterranean abode, the entry of which he 

 closes with great care ; and thus, remaining tranquil and secure, feeds on his col- 

 lected, store till the frost becomes severe: he then falls into a profound slumber. 

 It will be seen that this hybernation differs from that in which the animals imme- 

 dia^ly fall asleep, and either continue torpid during the whole of the cold season, 

 or awake occasionally to partake of food. There is a long underground preparation 

 for the winter sleep, during which a considerable quantity of food is needed. Hence 

 it is that the animal is provided with these ample pouches, which act as panniers 

 for the conveyance of its winter food to the place into which it retires. The fur of 

 the hamster is valuable ; and the peasant who goes " a hamster hunting" obtains not 

 only the sl^n of the animal, but his hoard, which amounts to as much as two 

 btishels of grain to each magazine. 



373. Why do lemmings migrate frnm their settlements ? 



Because they multiply so rapidly that they experience a deficiency 

 of vegetable food. They therefore set off in large bodies in search 

 of new grounds adapted to their habitations, and there they found 

 new colonies. In this we see a more striking illustration of the 



Mut bursariu*. 



