84 RODENTS. 



rounded, the eyes large and full, and the tail bushy. Their fur is of moderate 

 length and rather coarse and stiff; and their colour is some shade of golden or 

 reddish brown, shading more or less decidedly into black along the middle line of 

 the back and on the tail, the tip of the latter being invariably dark. 



Marmots inhabit the northern portions of both the Old and New 

 World, but in the former have a much more extensive distribution 

 than either susliks or chipmunks. In the more southern portions of their range 

 in the Old World, these animals are found only at considerable elevations above 

 the sea-level, but in more northern districts, like the Siberian steppes, they are 

 found on the lowland plains. In North America the common marmot, or wood- 

 chuck, inhabits low elevations in districts whe^e the winter climate is severe ; but 

 a second species is exclusively a mountain-dweller. None of them are found in 

 forest districts ; and, whether in the mountains or on the plains, they generally 

 select open spaces with a sandy soil, and within easy distance of water, for the 

 construction of their burrows. 



Old World In Europe there are two representatives of the genus, of which 



Marmots. ne fl rs ^ anc [ larger is the Alpine marmot (Arctomys marmotta), now 

 confined to the three disconnected mountain-ranges of the Pyrenees, Alps, and 

 Carpathians; although, as attested by its fossil remains, during the Pleistocene 

 period, when the climate was different, it was an inhabitant of the lowlands of 

 Germany and other parts of the Continent. The length of this marmot is about 

 20 inches, exclusive of the comparatively short tail. 



The bobac (A. bobac), of which a group is represented in our plate, is a smaller 

 species, measuring only about 15 inches from the nose to the root of the tail, and 

 with a much wider geographical range. This species has its present westerly 

 limits on the frontier of Germany, and thence ranges eastwards through Galicia 

 and Poland, across the steppes of Southern Russia, and so on to Amurland, 

 Kamschatka, and Siberia ; the climate of these regions being sufficiently cold to 

 admit of the existence of marmots at low elevations. In Lapland and Scandinavia, 

 marmots are quite unknown; but the southern limits of the bobac do not yet 

 appear to be ascertained. 



Central Asia and the higher ranges of the inner Himalaya are inhabited by 

 numerous species of marmots, but the genus is quite unknown to the southward of 

 the latter range. Of these Asiatic species, one of the best known is the short-tailed 

 Himalayan marmot (A. himalayanus), which is nearly allied to the bobac, but of 

 somewhat larger size. Its. range extends from the mountains of Yarkand and 

 other parts of Turkestan to Ladak and Eastern Tibet, where it is usually found at 

 elevations of from twelve thousand to thirteen thousand feet. The largest and 

 handsomest of the whole Old World group is, however, the long-tailed red marmot 

 (A. caudatus), in which the length of the head and body is about 24 inches, and 

 that of the tail fully half as much. This marmot is readily recognised, not only 

 by its large size and the great length of the tail, but also by the deep rufous tinge 

 of the fur, and the large amount of black in the region of the back. This fine 

 marmot may be met with on the mountain-ranges to the north of the valley of 

 Kashmir, and thence to Gilgit in one direction, and parts of Ladak in the other, 

 while it is also said to extend far into Central Asia. Other kindred but smaller 



