1 6 A necdotal Na tit, nil History. 



The Hackee, Chipping Squirrel, or Chipmuck, as 

 it is indifferently termed (Tamias Lysteii*), of North 

 America is one of the most widely known of these 

 quadrupeds. It is a very pretty little creature, rather 

 less than a foot in total length, of a brownish-grey hue, 

 with five black and two yellow stripes running longi- 

 tudinally along the back. The under surface is of a 

 fine white. 



The hackee is very abundant over a great portion 

 of North America, and may be seen almost everywhere 

 dashing in and out of the underwood with a rapidity 

 which has caused its movements to be compared to 

 those of the wren. 



By way of habitation, and also as a refuge from 

 its numerous foes, it constructs rather complicated 

 burrows below the surface of the earth. For this 

 purpose it generally selects some protected situation, 

 such as the roots of a large tree, the side of a bank, 

 or the foot of a hedge. A winding tunnel, usually of 

 considerable length, leads to the dwelling chamber, 

 or nest, where the young are brought up, and from 

 this run galleries leading to other chambers which 

 are used for storehouses. In these a most astonish- 

 ing quantity of food is laid up. In a single nest, we 

 are told, were found no less than a peck of acorns, two 

 quarts of buckwheat, a quart of beaked nuts, some 

 grass seeds, and a quantity of maize, with which the 

 interstices were filled up. 



It seems almost incredible that so small an animal 

 as the hackee can lay up so large a quantity of food, 

 but such is the case, and it is in carrying the pro- 

 visions to the burrow that the use of the cheek pouches 

 is found. It can, of course, carry only a small 

 quantity at a time. Four beaked nuts, for example, 

 constitute the load for a single journey, three being 

 packed into the pouches, and the fourth carried 



