56 



SPERMOPHILES OF THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 



At Pembina, X. Dak., I found several young mice (Sitomys Michigan- 

 ensis) in the stomach of one of these spermophiles and at Ortonville, 

 Minn., I shot one in the act of eating a freshly killed wood phoebe (Con- 

 topus virens). It had evidently just caught the bird, though it is diffi- 

 cult to understand how. Speaking of the omnivorous habits of the 

 species Prof. 0. L. Berrick says: "During the summer it feeds upon 

 wild fruits, such as strawberries, but has well-marked carnivorous 

 propensities. During a few days' encampment on Lake Traverse, 

 several of these animals became so domestic as to partake freely of 

 fish from our table so long as no suspiciously hasty motions were exe- 

 cuted by the human participants." (Mammals of Minn., 1893, p. 167.) 



Mr. David H. Henman, of Willows, N. Dak., reports that Franklin's 

 Spermophile kills small chickens, and similar complaints have been 

 made of the small colony introduced into New Jersey. u Mr. Jillson 

 writes under date of May 18, 1885 : i They are not numerous enough 

 yet to do a great deal of damage to crops, but if apair takes up its abode 

 near small chickens or turkeys they soon thin them out'" (Herrick, loc. 

 cifc, p. 168). At Browns Valley, Minn., they were said to have killed 

 five chickens that were feathered out and as large as quails. The 

 woman who told me about it saw a spermophile catch and kill one of 

 the chickens. Others have reported cases where they were strongly 

 suspected of killing young chickens, and, from their decidedly carniv- 

 orous tastes, there is no reason to doubt that the blame was correctly 

 placed. 



For the purpose of ascertaining the food of this species with greater 

 precision than is possible by general observations, twenty-nine stom- 

 achs were collected, and the contents examined in the laboratory. In 

 most cases the stomach contents were well masticated and so thoroughly 

 mixed that no system for accurately measuring the proportion of the 

 different substances could be applied. Small seeds were often found 

 unbroken, and wheat, oats, barley, and other large seeds could usually 

 be recognized by the shells and harder parts that remained. Grass- 

 hoppers and crickets were easily recognized by the legs, wings, jaws, 

 and other tough parts, while the skins of caterpillars often remained 

 entire and served to show the order, if not the genus, to which they 

 belonged. A great many small insects were so finely chewed that 

 nothing remained to show what they were. 



Summary of the contents of twenty-nine stomachs. — Animal matter, 

 30.3 per cent.; vegetable, 68.5; matter not positively determined as to 

 whether animal or vegetable, 1.2. 



