252 



FAMILY SCITJRIDjE ; PLYING SQUIRREL, MARMOT. 



(ANIM. PHYSIOL. 668,) this movement cannot be rightly 

 designated i& flight , since the animal is not able to propel itself in 

 the air, nor even to sustain itself a* the same height. In some 

 of the Squirrels, the tail is rounder and less bushy than in the 

 common one of this country; these, consequently, have less 

 power of taking sustained leaps through the air ; and they live 

 more upon the ground. 



' 220. The Marmot and the Dormouse seem to occupy an 

 intermediate position between this family and the next. The 

 Marmot has been commonly associated with the Rats ; but in its 

 dentition it more nearly resembles the Squirrels. The body is 



FIG. 127- ARCTOMYS, OR MARMOT. 



heavier, however, than it usually is in that family, and the limbs 

 are shorter ; the tail is of moderate length, and hairy. The 

 Marmots construct extensive burrows, with long galleries, pre- 

 ferring the sides of high and cold mountains. They pass the 

 winter in a state of profound torpidity ; not even occasionally 

 arousing themselves to take nourishment. They prepare a couch 

 of dry grass, in which they nestle ; and they securely close the 

 mouth of the burrow, and prevent the changes in the external 

 temperature from affecting their bodies, by carrying in a ball of 

 hay backwards, and drawing it firmly into the orifice. A sub- 

 division of this group, peculiar to North America, is remarkable 

 for its large cheek-pouches, which enable these little animals to 

 carry the stores of grain on which they feed. They are described 

 by Dr. Richardson as living in communities, and as occasionally 



