RICHARDSON'S SPERMOPHILE. 379 



and reconnoitre before it ventures to make an excursion. In the spring, 

 there are seldom more than two, and most frequently only one indi- 

 vidual seen at a time at the mouth of a hole ; and, although I have 

 captured many of them at that season, by pouring water into their 

 burrows, and compelling them to come out, I have never obtained more 

 than one from the same hole, unless when a stranger has been chased 

 into a burrow already occupied by another. There are many little well- 

 woru pathways diverging from, each burrow, and some of these roads 

 are observed, in the spring, to lead directly to the neighbouring holes, 

 being most probably formed by the males going in quest of a mate. 

 They place no sentinels, and there appeai-s to be no concert between 

 the Tawny Marmots residing in the neighbourhood, every individual look- 

 ing out for himself. They never quit their holes in the winter ; and I 

 believe they pass the greater part of that season in a torpid state. The 

 ground not being thawed when I was at Carlton House, I had not an op- 

 portunity ef ascertaining how their sleeping apartments were constructed, 

 nor whether they lay up stores of food or not. About the end of the first 

 week of April, or as soon as a considerable portion of the ground is 

 bare of snow, they come forth, and when caught on their little excur- 

 sions, their cheek-pouches generally contain the tender buds of the 

 Anemone Nuttalliana, which is very abundant, and the earliest plant on 

 the plains. They are fat when they first appear, and their fur is in good 

 condition ; but the males immediately go in quest of the females, and in 

 the course of a fortnight they become lean and the hair begins to fall 

 off. They run pretty quick, but clumsily, and their tails at the same 

 time move up and down with a jerking motion. They dive into their 

 burrows on the approach of danger, but soon ventiu-e out again if they 

 hear no noise, and may be easily shot with bow and arrow, or even 

 knocked down with a stick, by any one who will take the trouble to 

 lie quietly on the grass near their burrow for a few miimtes. Their 

 curiosity is so great that they are sure to come out to look around. 



" As far as I could ascertain, they feed entirely on vegetable matter, 

 eating in the spring the young buds and tender sprouts of herbaceous 

 plants, and in the autmnn the seeds of grasses and leguminous plants. 



" Their cry when in danger, or when angry, so nearly resembles that 

 of Arctomys Parriji. that I am unable to express the difference in letters. 



" Several species of falcon that frequent the plains of the Saskatche- 

 wan, prey much on these Marmots ; but their principal enemy is the 

 American badger, which, by enlarging their burrows, pursues them to 

 their inmost retreats. Considerable parties of Indians have also been 

 known to subsist for a time on them when large game is scarce, and 

 their flesh is palatable when they are fat."' 



