76 
RODENTS. 
of man, and uttering its bird-like chirp in every Indian garden. It is commonly 
found in groves and on the rows of trees bordering the roads in most Indian 
stations ; but, according to Mr. Blanford, exhibits no especial predilection for palms. 
It generally feeds on the ground 
in the neighbourhood of trees, 
and when alarmed seeks refuge 
in their boughs by darting up 
the stems with lightning-like 
rapidity. Dogs newly imported 
into India invariably take to 
hunting palm - squirrels, but 
usually give up the pursuit in 
a short time as being utterly 
hopeless. These squirrels fre¬ 
quently take up their abode in 
the roofs of houses, and will 
freely enter the rooms. In 
addition to the usual food of 
its kindred, this species will also 
consume white ants and other 
insects. The young—two to four 
in a litter—are produced in a 
large bulky nest of grass or wool, 
usually placed either in a tree 
or among the rafters of a house. 
Extinct The European 
the irawadi squirrel.— After Anderson. Squirrels. .squirrel dates from 
the deposition of the Norfolk 
“ forest-bed,” belonging to the earliest series of the Pleistocene period; but extinct 
species of the genus are found in formations of Tertiary age down to the upper 
division of the Eocene. 
The Ground-Squirrels, or Chipmunks. 
The ground-squirrel of Siberia, portions of Eastern Europe, and North 
America, together with several other closely-allied North American species com¬ 
monly known as chipmunks, constitute a group serving to connect the two squirrels 
with the susliks. Having molar teeth of the same type, the chipmunks are indeed 
so closely allied to the true squirrels that Dr. Forsyth-Major proposes to include 
them in the same genus. They differ, however, from both the spiny-squirrels and 
the true squirrels in the possession of pouches inside the cheeks; on which account 
they may, for the present at least, be allowed to stand under the generic title by 
which they are commonly known. They are further characterised by the sides, or 
the back and sides together, being marked by longitudinal white or greyish white 
stripes bordered by black bands. The ears are of medium size or small, and are 
never tufted with long hair; while the tail is shorter than the head and body, 
