THE CHIPMUNK OR GROUND SC^UIRREL. 



473 



it away in their cheek pouches, though I know of no one who has 

 ever seen them at it. 



For a rodent, the chipmunk has a remarkable vocal ability. Ilis 

 name chipmunk or chipping-squirrel was given to him becaiLse of 

 the chipping song he sings as he sits in the bright autumn sunshine. 

 I have heard this chipping at intervals of two or three seconds for 

 fifteen or twenty minutes, with scarcely a note missed. What its 

 purpose may be, I cannot conceive. 



A second noise is the rapid chatter he makes in defiance as 

 he dashes away from danger along a fence or wall. But the most 

 startling sound that I have ever known to proceed from any ro- 

 dent's throat, is the shrill whistle of this little animal. Its exact 

 nature is indescribable, but it resembles the whistle of a bird more 

 than any mammal note that I know of. I have been fooled by it 

 myself, and I once knew two very good ornithologists to search all 

 over a hillside for some unknown bird, only to discover that the call 

 that had lured them was not that of some feathered creature, but 

 the ventriloquistic whistle of one of these little squirrels. 



The food of the chipmunks is quite varied. In the oak woods 

 they store up quantities of acorns in the autumn, and these form 

 the staple article of food for several months. All kinds of nuts are 

 eaten when they can be secured, and one of the favorite dwelling 

 places of the animals is in an old pasture where clumps of hazel 

 bushes are interspersed with stone piles or stumps. In the spring 

 they sometimes do considerable damage by digging up sprouting 

 corn from the furrows. In the autumn some corn is taken from 

 the shocks. They also levy tribute on the wheatfields, separating 

 the chaff from the grains and filling their cheek pouches with the 

 latter to be carried to the den and stored for time of need. I have 

 taken 145 grains of wheat from the pouches of an animal killed 

 beside a shock of wheat. Many kinds of wild seeds and fruits are 

 no doubt eaten. In a swampy district in IMarylancl, I found them 

 storing up seeds of the sweet gum, which is there abundant. One 

 that I caught had nearly 40 of these seeds in his pouches. 



The capacity of the cheek pouches is surprisingly large. They 

 open between the lips and the molars and extend along the cheeks 

 and neck beneath the outer skin. They are simply folds of skin that 

 have grown back from the lining of the lips and are not furred 

 inside. They can be stretched to hold a considerable quantity of 

 grain or seeds, as in the two instances mentioned above. 



As a rule, the chipmunk does not eat much food at the place 

 where he finds it growing, for he knows his enemies are legion, and 



