MAMMALIA. toe 
+ 4. Arcromys Monax. (Gmelin.) The Wood-Chuck. 
Bahama Coney. Catessy, Carolina, vol. ii. p.79. An. 1743. 
_  Monax. Epwarps, Birds, pl. 104. 
Maryland Marmot. PENNANT, Arctic Zool., vol. i. p. 111. Gopman, Nat. Hist., vol. ii. p. 100. 
Arctomys Monax. SaBinE. Linn. Trans., vol. xiii. p. 585. Harian, Fauna, vol. i. p. 158. 
GRIFFITHS, An. King., vol. iii. p. 170. Cum figura, vol. v. No. 633. 
A. (monar) auriculis conspicuis rotundatis, corpore ex ferrugineo cinerascenti, vultu plumbeo, cauda fusca mediocri. 
Wood-Chuck, with prominent rounded ears; fur on the body rust-coloured, tipped with gray; bluish-gray face; a 
moderately long, dark-brown, rather bushy tail. 
To render the list of American marmots, given in this work, as perfect as our 
present knowledge permits, I shall insert here short compiled accounts of two 
species, which inhabit parts of North America, lying to the southward of the 
district to which this work more particularly relates. Of these the Wood-chuck, 
or Maryland Marmot, has been longest known to Naturalists. It is common in all 
the middle states, and is described, by Drs. Harlan and Godman, as living in 
society, and forming burrows in the sides of hills, which extend to great distances 
under ground, and terminate in various chambers, according to the number of 
inhabitants. The chambers are lined with dry grass, leaves, or other similar 
materials, and the animals pass the winter in them in a torpid state, after having 
closed the entrance. They feed on vegetables, are particularly fond of red-clover, 
and often prove injurious to the farmer, by the extent of their depredations. They 
sally forth in a body on their marauding excursions, generally at mid-day, and, 
having placed sentinels, proceed to fill their mouths. On the approach of danger, 
the sentinel gives the alarm by a clear, shrill whistle, and they betake themselves 
to their burrows with their utmost speed. If one of them is intercepted by a dog, 
it boldly offers battle, and bites severely. They are capable of being tamed, and 
become very playful, and fond of being handled. They are cleanly animals, 
removing all fragments of food, and even loose earth, from the mouths of their 
burrows, and carefully burying their excrement. The female produces six young 
at a litter. Dr. Godman, from whom chiefly the above account of the habits of 
this animal is borrowed, informs us that Edwards’s figure is very unlike, and that 
the only good representation is that given in Griffith’s Animal Kingdom, which is 
copied from a print done in America by Lesueur. He likewise mentions that it 
has ample cheek-pouches, and an extension of the skin between the toes, rendering 
x 
