CLASS I. MAMMALIA: ORDER 7. RODENTIA. 369 



In the autumn this creature may be seen around the fields of Indian corn, and in the walnut 

 and chestnut woods, filling his ample cheek-pouches, and carrying off his store to his granaries. 

 His hole is generally placed near the roots of trees, or in a decayed stump, or among a heap of 

 rocks, or in a bank of earth, and usually near the forests or fields from which he draws his sup- 

 plies. Sometimes his retreat has two or three openings; it usually descends almost perpendicu- 

 larly at first; then it rises with one or two windings, and at last, at the distance of eight or ten 

 feet, terminates in a chamber lined with leaves, amid which the animals sleep. Three or four 

 occupy the place together. There are several side-galleries, where the stores of wheat, buckwheat, 

 hazel-nuts, acorns, Indian corn, grass-seeds, walnuts or chestnuts, according to the productions of 

 the locality, are deposited. They are exceedingly provident, continuing to add to their supplies 

 till forced into their houses by the inclemency of the weather. Often their stores are much be- 

 yond the necessities of the winter. The squirrels hibernate in these retreats, and become some- 

 what sluggish, but do not approach the unconscious torpidity of the marmot. The young, four 

 or five at a birth, are produced in the spring, and beautiful little creatures they are when first led 

 forth by the mother. 



The Chipping-Squirrel rarely climbs trees, unless to escape pursuit, or perhaps occasionally to 

 get at some desired fruit. It has a sharp chip, often changed into a gurgling sound when the 

 animal escapes into his hole or conceals himself amid the recesses of a stone wall — seeming, in 

 fact, to be a sort of scoffing laugh at the impertinence of the assailant. On other occasions, its 

 chip becomes a sort of song, in which several squirrels in different parts of the forest seem to an- 

 swer one another, and thus to fill the woods with a kind of merry chorus. Though not familiar, 

 and seldom or never becoming reconciled to confinement, preserving always a rather sullen ap- 

 pearance, still this little creature is a general favorite. His voice is associated with the woods 

 and bright spring and autumn mornings, and especially with those happy days of youth when 

 every wood-ramble was an adventure, and even a chip-squirrel was game. 



This animal commits no depredations upon the garden, the orchard, or the farm; if he ven- 

 tures into the grain-field it is only as a gleaner. Nor is he included in the list of legitimate game, 

 being quite beneath the notice of the sportsman. Even the dog rarely condescends to bestow 

 upon him more than a bark, seldom having an opportunity of giving him a bite, — thanks to the 

 caution of the squirrel in always keeping near a retreat and an admirable celerity in reaching it. 

 Yet, despite these immunities, the chip-squirrel lives a life of unceasing peril. The woods that 

 he occupies are the haunts of hawks of many kinds, perchance of foxes, wild-cats, lynxes, minks, 

 and weasels, all thirsting for his blood. He never peeps from his hole but Avith the apprehension 

 that these, or some of these, are ready to pounce upon him. Nor is he altogether safe even in 

 his deep, winding burrow, intrenched as it may be in roots and rocks, for often the murderous 

 weasel enters his den and strangles him in his bed. 



Townsend's Ground-Squirrel, T, Tozvnsatdii, is somewhat larger than the preceding, the 

 body measuring nearly seven inches. The tail is long — with the hair, measuring five inches. The 

 upper surface is a dusky brown, with five black stripes along the back ; the under surface is of a 

 light ashy hue. Though in several respects different from the chip-squirrel, its habits seem to be 

 ''cry similar to those of that animal. Like that, it often mounts a stump in the woods, and, for a 

 long time, keeps up a continual clucking, being answered by another in a different part of the 

 forest. The note resembles that of the dusky grouse, and hunters are frequently deceived by it. 

 It is found in the Rocky Mountains, from the thirty-seventh to the forty-fifth degrees of lati- 

 tude. 



The Four-lined Squirrel, T. quadrivittatus, is smaller than the chip-squirrel, but resembles 

 it in appearance. Its sides are reddish brown ; beneath it is white ; along the back are five dark 

 brown stripes and four light ones. The head and body are a trifle over four -inches long. It 

 lis found in the northwestern regions, as far as lat. 50°; and southward along the Rocky Moun- 

 tains to the source of the Arkansas river. It is, like the chip-squirrel, lively and restless, living 

 in burrows with several openings, usually made at the roots of trees. It often annoys the hunter 

 by giving notice of his approach to the wild inhabitants of the woods, by its angry, chirruping 

 •cry. In autumn, it is seen with its cheek-pouches filled with seeds, carrying them to be stored 

 Vol. I. — 47 



