32 
STRIX CUNICULARIA. 
for miles together. They are composed of slightly 
elevated mounds, having the form of a truncated cone, 
about two feet in width at base, and seldom rising 
as high as eighteen inches above the surface of the 
soil. The entrance is placed either at the top or on the 
side, and the whole mound is beaten down externally, 
especially at the summit, resembling a much-used foot- 
path. 
From the entrance, the passage into the mound de- 
scends vertically for one or two feet, and is thence 
continued obliquely downwards, until it terminates in 
an apartment, within which the industrious marmot 
constructs, on the approach of the cold season, the 
comfortable cell for his winter’s sleep. This cell, which 
is composed of fine dry grass, is globular in form, with 
an opening at top capable of admitting the finger ; and 
the whole is so firmly compacted, that it might, without 
injury, be rolled over the floor. 
It is delightful, during fine weather, to see these 
lively little creatures sporting about the entrance of 
their burrows, which are always kept in the neatest 
repair, and are often inhabited by several individuals. 
When alarmed, they immediately take refuge in their 
subterranean chambers, or, if the dreaded danger be 
not immediately impending, they stand near the brink 
of the entrance, bravely barking and flourishing their 
tails, or else sit erect to reconnoitre the movements of 
the enemy. 
The mounds thrown up by the marmot in the neigh- 
bourhood of the Rocky Mountains, have an appearance 
of greater antiquity than those observed on the far 
distant plains. They sometimes extend to several yards 
in diameter, although their elevation is trifling, and, 
except immediately surrounding the entrance, are 
clothed with a scanty herbage which always distin- 
guishes the area of these villages. Sometimes several 
villages have been observed almost entirely destitute of 
vegetation, and, recollecting that the marmot feeds 
exclusively on grasses and herbaceous plants, it seems 
singular that this animal should always choose the 
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