150 NORTHERN ZOOLOGY. 
[48.] 2? Arctomys? prurosus. (Pennant.) The Whistler. 
The hoary marmot. PENNaNT, Hist. Quadr., vol. ii. p. 130; Arct. Zool., vol. i. p. 112. 
Ground hog. MackEnzik£, Voy., p. 315. 
Whistler. Harmon’s Journ., p. 427. 
Arctomys ? pruinosus. RicHarDson, Zool. Journ., No. 12, p. 518, March, 1828. 
Quisquis-su. Cree Indians. Deh-dehie. CHEPEWYANS. 
Skwey-kwey. ATNaH InDIans. Thidnu. NaGaILERs. 
Souffleur or Mountain Badger. Fur-TRADERS. 
A. (pruinosus) vellere corporis anticé rudi canescenti postice fuscescenti, caudd pilosissima badia nigrague. 
Hoary Marmot, with long coarse fur, particularly on the chest and shoulders, where it is hoary; hind parts dull 
yellowish-brown ; tail blackish-brown, bushy. 
DESCRIPTION. 
“ Tip of the nose black ; ears short and oval; cheeks whitish; crown dusky and tawny; 
hair, on all parts rude and long; on the back, sides and belly cinereous at the bottom, black 
in the middle, and tipped with white, so as to spread a hoariness over the whole ; legs black; 
claws dusky; tail full of hair, black and ferruginous. Size of the Maryland Marmot.” 
The above is Pennant’s description of a specimen which was preserved in the 
Leverian Museum, and said to have been brought from Hudson’s Bay. That 
specimen is now lost, and the species does not appear to have come under the notice 
of any other naturalist. If Iam correct in considering it as the same with the 
Whistler of Harmon, we may soon hope to know more of it, for the traders who 
annually cross the Rocky Mountains from Hudson’s Bay to the Columbia and New 
Caledonia, are well acquainted with it. I failed in obtaining a specimen, as I did 
not visit the Rocky Mountains myself; and one which was procured for me by a 
gentleman was so much injured, that he did not think it fit to be sent. 
The Whistler inhabits the Rocky Mountains from latitude 45° to 62°, ei 
probably further both ways ;—it is not found in the lower parts of the country. 
It burrows-in sandy soil, generally on the sides of grassy hills, and may be fre- 
quently, seen cutting hay in the autumn; but whether for the purpose of laying it 
up for food or merely for lining its burrows, I did not learn. While a party of 
them are thus occupied, they have a sentinel on the look out upon an eminence, 
who. gives the alarm on the approach of an enemy by a shrill whistle, which may 
be heard at a great distance. The signal of alarm is repeated from one to another 
as far as their habitations extend. According to Mr. Harmon, they feed on roots 
