114 RODENTIA. 



root, yellowish to the middle, and blackish from thence to 

 near the tip, which is deep black. 



Length of head and body, 1 foot 4 inches; head, 4 

 inches ; ears, 7 lines ; tail, without the fur, 4 inches 4 

 lines. — P. M. 



Prefers the less elevated to the higher mountain chains ; 

 burrows in a dry soil, choosing a southern exposure ; lives 

 in societies of about twenty ; lays up a quantity of dried 

 grass for its winter store, on which it feeds when not in a 

 torpid state. Utters a whistling note on the approach of 

 danger. 



Inhabits the southern parts of Poland and Eussia ; is 

 very plentiful on the Ural Mountains towards the south. 

 In the Ukraine, Pallas says that a variety entirely black 

 is not uncommon. The Bobak is to be met with in the 

 Bukovina, and is found throughout Great Tartary and the 

 South of Siberia, seldom north of the 55th degree of lati- 

 tude, and extending, it is said, to Kamtschatka. 



Arctomys Marmotta. 



Arctomys Marmotta, Desm. Mamm. Sp. 523. 

 Mus Marmotta, Linn. 

 The Marmot. 



Desceiption. — Head flat at top; muzzle thick and short; 

 eyes large, black ; ears very short, truncated ; whiskers 

 stiff. Pur on the body, head, and sides grey-black of 

 various shades ; top of the head blackish ; cheeks and ears 

 grey ; hairs on the back stiff and coarse, those on the parts 

 beneath softer, of a grey colour slightly tinged with red- 

 dish; tail furnished with long, tufted, black, and red- 

 brown hairs ; claws robust, sharp, and black. 



Length of head and body, 1 foot 3 to 6 inches ; head, 

 3 inches 8 lines. — F. M. 



Inhabits the highest mountain regions among perpetual 



