On the Wood-ChucJc. 113 



near the ends. Tail bushy, partly distichous ; body clothed with 

 soft woolly far, which is mixed with coarse long hairs. 



COLOUR. 



" This species (like the foregoing one) is subject to many 

 variations in the colour of its fur, which may account perhaps for 

 its numerous synonymes. We will, however, describe the animal 

 in its most common colouring. 



" The finer woolly fur is for two-thirds of its length from the 

 roots upwards, of a dark ashy brown, with the extremities light 

 yellowish-brown. The long hairs are dark brown for two-thirds 

 of their length, tipped sometimes with reddish white, but generally 

 with a silvery white. The general tint of the black is grizzly or 

 hoary ; cheeks, and around the mouth, light gray ; whiskers black ; 

 head, nose, feet, nails and tail, dark brown ; eyes black. The 

 whole under surface, including the throat, breast, belly, and the 

 fore and hind legs, reddish orange. 



" The specimens before us present several striking varieties of 

 colour ; among them is one from Lower Canada, coal-black with 

 the exception of the nose and a patch under the chin, which are 

 light gray ; the far is short, and very soft ; and the tail less dis- 

 tichous than in other varieties of this species. 



DIMENSIONS. 



" Adult Male. 



From point of nose to root of tail, - - - - 18| inches. 



Tail (vertebrae,) 3| 



Tail, to end of hair, 5| 



Ear, posteriorly, -- | 



Girth of body, 17 



From fore to hind claw, when stretched, - - 26 



" We have found some difference in the length of the tail, in 



different individuals, it being, in some specimens, nearly seven 



inches long including the hair. 



*' Weight 9lb. 11 oz. — Audubon and Bachman, Vol. l,p. 16." 



The Woodchuck belongs to the order Kodentia* or the 

 " gnawers," that group of the mammalia which includes the bea- 

 ver, muskrat, hares, mice, rats, and rabbits. The animals of this 

 order have the two front or incisor teeth in each jaw constructed 

 like so many chisels for the purpose of cutting to pieces the va- 



c 



