Miners, Diggers, and Carpenters. 



into it : one, reaching to the surface at a considerable 

 distance from the main vertical shaft, is dug out in a 

 sloping manner, and probably acts as a bolt run and 

 easier means of rapid exit ; while the third tunnel 

 leads to the round, oval-shaped storeroom, which is 

 often larger than the living-room. Young Hamsters 

 are said to excavate only one storeroom, while older 

 animals will dig out from three to five. In the autumn 

 both old and young Hamsters become very busy in 

 the fields, collecting quite considerable quantities of 

 grain, with which they fill their storerooms, packing 

 it away as tightly as possible, and sometimes even filling 

 the tunnels leading to the storerooms as well, and 

 finally carefully blocking up with earth the entrance 

 to their precious store that has to last them through 

 the long winter months. At one time it was very gener- 

 ally imagined that the Hamster carefully selected the 

 grain of his harvest, the idea originating in the fact 

 that some of the store chambers were found to be filled 

 with one kind of seed, such as linseed, oats, peas, beans, 

 and corn. But this is not, apparently, due to careful 

 sorting and selection on the part of the Hamster, but 

 rather to the fact that the seeds ripen at different times 

 of the year. Like the marmot, the Hamster with the 

 approach of winter closes the entrances to his snug 

 retreat, spending the cold, drear days of winter in sleep, 

 waking up again about February or March, but not 

 immediately coming 'above ground, preferring to live 

 within doors for a while, and feeding upon what is 

 left of the grain stored up the previous autumn. 



Many of the Crab tribe are expert diggers, and 

 one of the most remarkable in many respects is the 



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