NEW SPECIES OF AMERICAN QUADRUPEDS. 61 
Head of moderate size ; body slender ; eyes very 
small for this genus ; ears nearly naked, concealed by 
the fur ; feet small ; whiskers the length of the head, 
white and black, the latter predominating; color 
above, a shade lighter than that of the former species, 
inclining a little to hoary brown; ash colored beneath; 
a \ ery minute, blunt, thumb nail on the fore foot. 
Length of the head and body, 3 inches 0 lines. 
“ tail, i « 2 “ 
The above was an old male, captured at the Co- 
lumbia river, November 2d, 1836. 
4. Spermophilus Torvnsendii. Townsend’s Marmot. 
Spermophilus guttatus, Richardson. 
This singularly marked and, I conceive, new 
species, is another of the discoveries of our indefati- 
gable countryman, Mr. Townsend. In a letter to 
me, he states, “ That it inhabits, in the summer, the 
prairies near the Walla-walla; is rather common. 
It becomes excessively fat, and is eaten by the In- 
dians. It disappears in August, and reappears early 
m spring, in a very attenuated state.” 
The body is long, and rather slender ; head of a 
moderate size; nose slightly obtuse; ears short 
scarcely a line in height; nails slender, compressed’ 
and slightly arched; the thumb protected by an 
acute and prominent nail; the second claw in the 
ore foot, as m all the species of this genus, is long- 
est, and not the third, as in the squirrels. Cheek 
pouches not large; tail thickly clothed with fur, 
