1306 THE RODENTS 



regard to size and coloration in the Norwegian lemming. Usually, however, 

 its length is about five inches; while the general color of the fur is yellowish 

 brown, darker above than below, more or less spotted and streaked with blackish 

 brown. 



Lemmings are the most abundant Rodents found in Norway, and 

 they have always attracted great interest from the circumstance, that 

 at certain intervals countless swarms descend from the mountains to the cultivated 

 plains, and thence make their way, apparently under the influence of some blind 

 impetus, to the sea, into the waters of which they boldly plunge to meet a death by 

 drowning. In the course of such migrations, the lemmings take a straight line 

 across country, swimming rivers or lakes, climbing mountains, and eating their way 

 through fields of corn or grass, and thus leaving a track of desolation in their rear. 

 The line of march is marked by flights of predaceous birds hovering above the 

 hosts; the flanks and rear of the army being harassed by four-footed foes, who, 

 however, at first make but little apparent diminution in its numbers. Disease also 

 claims its victims, and from these combined attacks, the numbers which eventually 

 reach the sea, sometimes after an interval of from one to three years from the time 

 of starting, form but a small minority of the original swarm. 



In general appearance, lemmings look not unlike small marmots or hamsters, 

 and they resemble the latter to a considerable extent in their mode of life. Although 

 in Finmark they occur at the sea level, in the more southern parts of Scandinavia 

 they are found only high up in the mountains above the level of firs, in the belt 

 clothed with birch and juniper. Here they select dry spots in the swampy ground, 

 making their shallow burrows either beneath stones or in the peaty soil. Generally 

 they do not form well-marked tracks from one hole to another, except when the 

 ground is covered with snow. They are on the move by day as well as by night. 

 Except when migrating, lemmings show a great aversion to water, always selecting 

 the driest portions of the swamps, and if forced to enter a river manifesting their 

 dislike by squeaks and grunts. Generally they sit quietly during the day, in or 

 near the entrances of the burrows, but should a human being appear on the scene, 

 they at once become violently excited, raising themselves up on their hind-quarters, 

 and squeaking, as if to warn him off from their territories, while their gestures are 

 such as to give the impression that they are about to attack the intruder. Indeed, 

 they will sometimes bite vigorously at the trousers of any person who approaches 

 too close to their holes. The squeaks and grunts uttered on such occasions by the 

 lemmings are said to closely resemble those of guinea pigs. In the winter, they 

 form large nests in their tunnels through the snow, which are exposed to view 

 when it melts; several tunnels radiating from each nest, which are formed partly 

 in the peat and partly in the snow. The chief food of the lemming in its native 

 haunts consists of grass, reindeer moss, the catkins of the birch, and probably 

 various descriptions of roots. It appears that the young are born in the nests, 

 which are usually made of dry grass with a lining of hair, and that there are 

 usually from five to six young in a litter. It is considered by Brehm that there is 

 probably more than one litter in a season; but precise information as to the breeding 

 habits of these creatures is still a desideratum. 



