STRIPED SPERMOPHILE. 



43 



the East. The farmers agree that they ought to be good to eat, but it 

 was impossible to learn of any one who had tried them." (Annual Re- 

 port Dept. Agriculture, 1887, pp. 455-456.) 



In studying the food of the Striped Spermophile eighty stomachs and 

 eleven cheek pouches were collected and their contents carefully ex- 

 amined. Since the stomachs were taken from specimens collected at var- 

 ious dates, ranging from May 19 to August 31, and over an extent of coun. 

 try including Minnesota, the Dakotas, Montana, Wyoming, Kansas, and 

 Texas, it may be reasonably inferred that the average summer diet of 

 the species is represented. Following is a list of the food components 

 found in the stomachs : 



ANIMAL. 



Grasshoppers. 



Crickets. 



Caterpillars (larvae of Lepidoptera). 



Beetles. 



Ants. 



A small cocoon. 



Insects' eggs. 



Spermophile hairs. 



Feathers of small birds. 



VEGETABLE. 



Oats. 



Wheat. 



Pig- weed (Chenopodium). 



Bind- weed seeds (Polygonum). 



Wild sunflower seeds (Helianthus) . 



Nightshade berries (Solatium). 



Cactus fruit (Opuntia), 



Roots. 



Herbage. 



The number of feathers was not sufficient to prove that birds had 

 been eaten. The spermophiles may have picked up stray feathers to 

 line their nests with and in carrying them home accidentally swallowed 

 a few. Still, from their well-known carnivorous habits, it seems most 

 probable that wounded or dead birds had been found and eaten. Most 

 of the hairs in the stomachs seemed to have come from the animals 

 themselves and were probably swallowed by accident. 



Summary.— Of the total contents of the eighty stomachs examined, 

 more than half consisted of insects. The percentage of animal matter 

 was 52.9,- of vegetable matter 44.4; and of indeterminate matter 2.7. 

 The cheek pouches contained 100 per cent of vegetable matter, being 

 filled exclusively with grain and seeds of various plants. 



Table showing contents of 80 stomachs of the Striped Prairie Spermophile 

 (Spermophilus tridecemlineatus). 



Cat. 

 No. 



Sex. 



Date. 



Locality. 



Percent- 

 age of 

 animal 



matter. 



Percent- 

 age of 

 vegetable 

 matter. 



Contents. 



13 

 14 



$ 



d 



d 



¥ 



9 



1887. 

 May 19 



May 19 



May 19 



May 21 



May 21 

 May 21 



Heron Lake, Minn 



do 



3 



10 

 25 



70 



100 

 100 



97 



90 

 75 

 30 



Small insects; shell of little 

 striped beetle; oats, seeds, herb- 

 age. 



Beetles ; chewed vegetable fiber; 

 pulp, and shells of seeds. 



Beetles; one small striped beetle; 

 vegetable matter, and seeds. 



A beetle; a coleopterous larva; 

 other insects ; vegetable matter. 



15 



do 



16 



do 



17 



do 



18 



do 





Crickets; larvae, apparently of 

 bumblebees. 









