50 



HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 



North America is peculiarly rich in burrowing animals be- 

 longing to this order — so rich, indeed, that many curious spe- 

 cies must be omitted for lack of space. 



Burrow and Storehouses of Chipping Squirrel. 



Among these burrowers, the Chipping Squirrel, or Hackee, 

 or Chipmuck (Tamias Lysteri), is peculiarly conspicuous. It is 

 a very pretty little creature, brownish -gray in color, with five 

 stripes of black and two of pale yellow drawn along the back ; 

 so that it can not be mistaken for any other animal. Below, 

 and on the throat, it is a pure snowy white. These are the nor- 

 mal hues of the fur ; but it is somewhat variable in point of col- 

 or, the gray and yellow being sometimes quite superseded by the 

 black. 



The burrow of the Chipping Squirrel is rather complicated in 

 structure, and is always made under the shelter of a wall, an old 

 tree, or a bank. The hole descends almost perpendicularly for 

 nearly a yard, and then makes several devious windings in a 

 slightly ascending direction. Two or three supplementary gal- 

 leries are driven from the principal burrow, and by means of 

 them the animal is able to escape almost any foe. The stoat, 



