78 PARRY'S MARMOT-SQUIRREL. 



SYNONYMES. 



Ground-Squirrel, Heame's Journey, pp. 141 and 386. 



Quebec Marmot, Forster, Phil. Trans., vol. Ixii., p. 378. 



Arctomys Alpina, Parry, Second Voyage, p. 61, narrative. 



Arctomys Parryi, Richardson, Parry's Second Voyage, App., p. 316. 



Arctomys (Spermophilds) Parryi, Rich., Fauna Boreali Americana, p. 158, pi. 10, 



Seek- Seek, Esijuimaux, — Thoe-Thiay Rock-Badger, Chipewyans, Rich. 



DESCRIPTION. 



This marmot-squirrel, although far from being as thick and heavy 

 as the Maryland marmot, is not nearly so light and graceful as most 

 of the other species of this genus, especially Sp. Douglassii ; and in 

 form, this animal resembles the marmots more than it does the ground 

 squirrels. The forehead is arched, the nose rather short, thick, and 

 closely covered with short hair; ears, short, triangular, and situated 

 above the auditory opening ; eyes, prominent, and of moderate size ; a 

 few rather slender hairs over the eye ; along the cheeks are whiskers, 

 arranged in five rows. Cheek-pouches, of medium dimensions, and open- 

 ing into the mouth immediately behind the molars. 



Legs and feet rather short and stout ; toes well separated ; nails long ; 

 feet covered with short hairs ; palms of the fore-feet naked ; soles of hind- 

 feet for half an inch next the heel clothed with hair, the remainder naked. 

 Tail, rather flat, rounded at base, hairs becoming longer towards the ex- 

 tremity ; sub-distichous. The under fur on every part of the body, soft, 

 glossy, and of a silky appearance. 



Hairs of the back, black at the roots, annulated above with black, 

 nearer the tips yellowish-white, or white ; extreme tips black. 



The longest hairs black ; the under, black at the base, then whitish, 

 and shaded into brown at the points. The whole upper surface is irre- 

 gularly and thickly spotted with white ; the spots confluent, especially 

 over the shoulders ; on the belly the under-fur is abundant, very soft and 

 silky ; grayish-black at the base, and yellowish- white at the tips ; the 

 visible portion of the longer hairs, deep yellow on the sides of the body, 

 and paler yellow^ on the belly. Feet, yellow ; hairs on the toes a pale 

 yellow ; claws blackish-brown ; the hinder half of the tarsus covered be- 

 neath with brownish hairs ; upper surface of the head, as far back as 

 the eyes, of a deep rich yellow ; around the eyes whitish ; cheeks yellow ; 

 chin, throat, and sides of the muzzle, yellowish- white ; tail, at base, co- 

 loured like the body ; in the middle, the hairs are yellowish, with two 



