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RODENTS. 



American 

 Marmots. 



Three well-defined species of marmot inhabit North America, 

 namely the woodchuck (A. monax), the Eocky Mountain marmot 

 (A. flaviv enter), and the hoary marmot (A. pruinosus). Of these the last is the 

 largest, and agrees closely with the Alpine species, though the length of the head 

 and body is said to reach from 23 to 25 inches. The second does not exceed 18 J 

 inches in length of head and body, but has a much longer tail, of which the length 

 is from 9 to 10 inches. This species ranges from California through the Eocky 

 Mountains to about the 49th parallel of latitude ; it appears to be a strictly Alpine 

 animal, and is to some extent gregarious, like the Old World species. 



THE ALPINE MARMOT (J- nat. size). 



The woodchuck is the smallest of the three species, averaging only 14 J inches 

 in length of head and body, with a tail of nearly half this dimension. It is 

 generally mixed fulvous, brownish black, and grey above, and yellowish or 

 brownish red below ; but some specimens are almost wholly black. The range of 

 the woodchuck extends from Manitoba to Carolina, and westwards from the 

 Atlantic to Missouri and Minnesota. 



In habits this species appears to differ considerably from the Old World forms. 

 According to Dr. Hart Merriam, it delights in the open meadows and rocky hill- 

 sides in the cultivated area round the .Adirondack Mountains, where it feeds 

 chiefly upon grass and clover. Although generally living in burrows of its own 



