32 
STRIX CUNICULARIA. 
for miles together. They are composed of slight 
elevated mounds, having the form of a truncated cof 
about two feet in width at base, and seldom risij 
as high as eighteen inches above the surface of t* 
soil. The entrance is placed either at the top or on u 
side, and the whole mound is beaten down external!, 
especially at the summit, resembling a much-used (o' 1 
path. 
From the entrance, the passage into the mound * 
scends vertically for one or two feet, and is the 11 ' 
continued obliquely downwards, until it terminates ' 
au apartment, within which the industrious marW 
constructs, on the approach of the cold season, 
comfortable cell for his winter’s sleep. This cell, wl"‘ 
is composed of line dry grass, is globular in form, 
an opening at top capable of admitting the linger; ;l ' 
the whole is so firmly compacted, that it might, withe* 
injury, be rolled over the door. 
It is delightful, during fine weather, to see tbi 
lively little creatures sporting about the entrance 1 
their burrows, which are always kept in the neat f 
repair, and are often inhabited by several individual 
When alarmed, they immediately take refuge in tie 
subterranean chambers, or, if the dreaded danger 
not immediately impending, they stand near the hr** 
of the entrance, bravely barking and flourishing tV 
tails, or else sit erect to reconnoitre the movements 1 
the enemy. 
The mounds thrown up by the marmot in the nci- 
bourhood of the Rocky Mountains, have an appears 1 ! 
of greater antiquity than those observed on the j 
distant plains. They sometimes extend to several 
in diameter, although their elevation is trifling, 
except immediately surrounding the entrance, \ 
clothed with a scanty herbage which always die® 
guishes the area of these villages. Sometimes set®? 
villages have been observed almost entirely destitut® 
vegetation, and, recollecting that the marmot f®* 
exclusively on grasses and herbaceous plants, it se®, 
singular that this animal should always choose 1 
3 
