94 NATURAL UlSTOXT. 



Eastern Europe and in Siberia. Several other species are known from Asia Minor Siberia, and 

 Central Asia. 



The BARKING SQUIRRELS, or PRAIRIE DOGS, of which two species (Cynomys ludovicianus, see figure 

 on p. 81, and C. columbianus) are found in the United States of America, are of a stouter form than the 

 Spermophiles, and have the ears and tail short. The claAvs are well developed on all the toes of the fore 

 feet, the cheek-pouches are shallow, and the two rows of grinding teeth converge towards the back of the 

 mouth. These animals are peculiar to North America, where the former inhabits the prairies east of the 

 Rocky Mountains, and the latter is found on the plains of the Columbia river, and in other parts of the 

 western territories as far south as New Mexico. The best known of the two species is the Cynomys 

 ludoviciamis, to which the name of the PRAIRIE DOG was first applied: this name being given to it 

 from a fancied resemblance of its voice to the barking of a small Dog. It measures about a foot in 

 length, and its tail is about four inches long. Its colour on the upper surface is reddish-brown, 

 variegated with grey, and with a few scattered black hairs ; the tail is flattened, and brownish-black 

 towards the end, and the lower surface is brownish or yellowish-white. These animals live together 

 in great societies, especially upon those portions of the prairies where the so-called buffalo-grass 

 (Sesleria dactyloides) grows most luxuriantly, this grass and succulent roots constituting their chief 

 food. They live in burrows, which they dig in the ground at a distance of twelve or fifteen feet apart ; 

 a hard-beaten path runs from burrow to burrow, and would seem to give evidence of the sociable dis- 

 position of the animals ; and at the mouth of every burrow there is a little hillock, formed by the earth 

 thrown out of it, which serves the occupant as a watch-tower. These burrows are usually so numerous 

 upon favourable pieces of ground that the space occupied by them is quite populous, and presents a 

 scene of considerable animation when the inhabitants are out in the pursuit of their business or their 

 pleasure, and hence they are in common parlance spoken of as " towns " or " villages." Their curious 

 appearance is heightened by the almost constant presence in them of numerous small Owls, of 

 the species known as the Burrowing Owl (Athene cunicularia), a widely -spread species, which in. some 

 places digs its own subterranean habitation, but on these prairies saves itself the trouble by taking 

 possession of the deserted abodes of the Prairie Dogs. These birds are diurnal in their habits, and are 

 to be seen mixed up with the Prairie Dogs in their settlements. Another inhabitant of the burrows 

 is the Rattlesnake ; and some of the earlier observers thought that the Prairie Dogs, Owls, Rattle- 

 snakes, and some other animals, such as Horned Frogs and an occasional Tortoise, occupied the 

 same burrow, and lived there on the most amicable footing. Unfortunately, this paradisaic picture is 

 an imaginary one. It is true that the Rattlesnake does take up his abode in the Prairie Dog's burrows, 

 but he either selects a deserted one, or dispossesses, and perhaps devours, the rightful owner ; and his 

 object in his residence among the lively little Marmots is anything rather than peaceful, as they con- 

 stitute his favourite food. The little Burrowing Owl has also been said by some writers to feed on 

 the young Prairie Dogs ; but this is not proved, and the food of the Owls is known to consist chiefly 

 of Grasshoppers and Crayfish. According to the latitude in which they live, the Prairie Dogs seem to 

 be more or less subject to torpidity during the winter. 



The true MARMOTS (Arctomys) are nearly related to the Prairie Dogs. They are stout in the 

 body, have a short tail, and a rudimentary thumb with a flat nail; and are either entirely 

 destitute of cheek-pouches or have mere indications of those organs. The rows of molar teeth 

 are placed nearly parallel to each other in each jaw. The skull is broad and flat above, with a 

 depression between the orbits ; and the post-orbital processes are larger than in any other Sciuridse. 

 The Marmots are confined to the Northern hemisphere, but over it they are widely distributed 

 in both continents. Of the Old World species, the best known are the BOBAC (Arctomys Bobac} 

 and the ALPINE MARMOT (A. Marmota), of which the former extends from the south of 

 Poland and Galicia over the whole of Southern Russia and Siberia to the Amoor region and 

 Kamstchatka, whilst it is found in elevated situations as far southward as Cashmere, Tibet, and 

 the Himalayas ; and the latter inhabits only the higher regions of the Alps, Pyrenees, and Car- 

 pathians. In North America the common species is the WOODCHUCK (Arctomys Monax), the 

 distribution of which is from the Carolinas northward to Hudson's Bay, and westward from the 

 Atlantic coast to Missouri, Iowa, and Minnesota; the Rocky Mountain region is inhabited by a 

 distinct species (A. flaviventer) ; and a third very large species, the HOARY MARMOT, or WHISTLER 



