THE GROUND SQUIRRELS, OR CHIPMUNKS 



1249 



Of the smaller striped species, the best known is the Indian palm squirrel (S. 

 palmarum), so commonly distributed in open districts throughout India and Ceylon, 

 but unknown to the eastward of the Bay of Bengal, and never found in forests. 

 The length of the head and body of this species is from five and one-half to six 

 inches, and that of the tail rather more. The general color of the upper parts is 

 some shade of brown, with three narrow whitish or slightly rufescent longitudinal 

 stripes on the back; the under parts varying from white to gray. This pretty little 

 squirrel is one of the most familiar of Indian Mammals, exhibiting scarcely any fear 

 of man, and uttering its bird-like chirp in every Indian garden. It is commonly 

 found in groves and on the rows of trees bordering the roads in most Indian 

 stations, but, according to Mr. Blanford, exhibits no especial predilection for palms. 

 It generally feeds on the ground 

 in the neighborhood of trees, 

 and when alarmed seeks refuge 

 in their boughs by darting up 

 the stems with lightning-like 

 rapidity. Dogs newly imported 

 into India invariably take to 

 hunting palm squirrels, but 

 usually give up the pursuit in 

 a short time as being utterly 

 hopeless. These squirrels fre- 

 quently take up their abode in 

 the roofs of houses, and will 

 freely enter the rooms. In 

 addition to the usual food of 

 its kindred, this species will also 

 consume white ants and other 

 insects. The young two to four 

 in a litter are produced in a 

 large bulky nest of grass or wool, 



usually placed either in a tree 

 or among the rafters of a house. 

 The European 

 squirrel dates from 

 the deposition of 

 the Norfolk "forest bed," be- 



Extinct 



Squirrels 



THE IRAWADI SQUIRREL. 

 (After Anderson.) 



longing to the earliest series of the Pleistocene period; but extinct species of the 

 genus are found in formations of Tertiary age down to the upper division of the 

 Eocene. 



THE GROUND SQUIRRELS, OR CHIPMUNKS 



The ground squirrel of Siberia, portions of Eastern Europe, and North America, 

 together with several other close-allied North-American species commonly known 

 111-79 



