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EASTERX EUROPE 



their young. When disturbed, a desman gives utterance to a sharp hissing noise. 

 Desmans subsist chiefly on water-insects and small fishes, searching for food with 

 their long snouts under stones and other refuges for insects and grubs. They 

 owe their scientific name to a musk-like scent attaching to the secretion of a gland 

 under the tail. Although the flesh is unpalatable, the peasants hunt desmans for 

 the sake of their soft beaver-like fur, which is in best condition in early autumn. 

 The rodents of the eastern districts are for the most part similar 

 to those of central Europe ; but it is noteworthy that the squirrel is 

 wanting in the Crimea as well as in the Caucasian borderland between Europe 

 and Asia. The family is, however, well represented by a marmot, the bobac 

 {An'timi;/* hobac), as well as by the suslik, which occurs also in the extreme east 

 of Germany. Susliks are characterised by the somewhat slender body, long head, 

 the rudimentary first toe of the fore-feet, and the short tail with longish hair on 



Suslik. 



the side. They are restricted to Europe, Asia Minor, Asia north of the southern 

 slopes of the Himalaya, and North America. With the exception of one from 

 northern Asia, all the Old World members of the group are short-tailed, in which 

 respect they differ markedly from their Transatlantic cousins. 



The common suslik (SpermophiZus citillus), which frequents dry, treeless 

 plains with a sandy or clayey soil, fields, and large meadows, but never forest and 

 marshy districts, when fully grown is about 9j inches in length of body, with a 

 tail of 2f inches. The soles of the feet are haired to the roots of the toes; there is 

 a short claw on the first toe of the fore-foot, the eyes are very small, and the loose 

 and rather stiff fur is yellowish grey and spotted above, but rusty yellow below 

 and white on the chin and throat. Susliks construct burrows in the ground a 

 couple of yards or more in depth, which serve alike as dwelling-places and store- 

 rooms. The deepest are those of the females, in which from four to eight young 

 are born in the spring; these burrows have but one aperture, serving alike for 



