388 



SYSTEMATIC ZOOLOGY 



The squirrel family proper includes ground animals and 

 arboreal animals, all of which have the tails covered with fur. 

 Of the former the largest are the wooden ucks of the United 

 States and Canada, sixty centimeters in length ; the species 

 found in Europe and Asia are called marmots. There are 

 several species of marmots in the United States, the most 

 familiar being the prairie dogs, whose burrows are so common 

 in barren regions of the West. They are about a third of a 





FIG. 379. Anomalurus fulgens, the African flying squirrel. (From Shipley and 



MacBnde's Zoology.) 



meter long, with a short tail of four or five centimeters, and live 

 in large colonies ; the story of the owl and the rattlesnake living 

 peaceably in the same burrow with the prairie dog is an inter- 

 esting fable. More squirrel-like in general appearance are the 

 chipmunks, which are handsomely striped longitudinally, and 

 provided with large cheek pouches for carrying food. The true 

 squirrels (Fig. 378), with their bushy tails, are abundant over 

 the whole inhabitable world except Australia. Every one is 

 familiar with the red squirrels and the gray squirrels, of which 



