by ./o u fv Murray. J a n u a r y 2S2&.
[47.] 1. A r c t o m y s e m p e t r a . (Schreber.) The Quebec Marmot.
Genus A rc tom y s . Gmelin. Cuvier.
Q u e b e c M a rm o t. Pennant, Hist. Quadr^ 1 st e d ., N o . 2 0 9 ’; 3 d e d ., N o . 3 2 1 . Arctic Zool.,
v o l. i . p . 1 1 1 . Bewick’s Quad., 1 st e d ., p . 34 6 . Fig. . 2 d e d ., p . 3 6 9 . Fig.
M u s em p e tra . Pallas, Glir., p . 7 5 . A n . 1778.
G lis C an a d e n sis. Erklebein, Syst., p . 3 63.
A r c tom y s em p e tr a . Schreber, Quad., p . 7 4 3 ; p i. 2 1 0 .
C om m o n M a rm o t. LaNgsdorff’s Travels, v o l. ii. p . ^h ?
A rc tom y s em p e tr a . Sabine. Linn., Trans., vo l. z i i i . p . 2 4 . Harlan, Faima, p . 160.
Q u e b e c M a rm o t. GoDMAN,iVa£. Hist., voL ii. p. 108.
W e e n u s k . Cree Indians. K a th -h illo s-k o o a y . Chefewyans.
T h ic k -w o o d B a d g e r . Hudson’s B a t Residents.
S iffle u r. French Canadians, w h o ap p ly t h e same n am e to .th e o th e r species o f m a rm o t, a n d
to th e b a d g e r.
T a rb o g a n . Russian Residents on Kodiak ?
A . (empetra) super ex spadiceo nigroque canescens : subter helvolus, oapite pedibusque nigrescenti-bru/nneis, genis
albescentibus, auriculis mediocribus plants rotundatis, cauda ex fused canescenti apicern versus nigresoenti
dimidium corporis vix superanti.
Q u e b e c M a rm o t, o n th e u p p e r p a r ts h o a ry , w ith a n in te rm ix tu r e o f b la c k , a n d b r ig h t w o o d -b row n s h in in g th r o u g h ;
o n th e in f e r io r p a r t s r e d d is h -o r a n g e ; a n d o n th e h e a d a n d f e e t, b la c k ish -b row n ; c h e e k s , w h i t i s h ; f la t,
r o u n d e a r s , o f a m o d e r a te s i z e ; ta i l , a b o u t h a l f t h e le n g th o f t h e b o d y , b row n a n d h o a ry , w ith a black tip .
P l a t e i x .
This animal was first described by Pennant, under the name of Quebec Marmot,
from a specimen kept alive in Mr. Brooks’s menagerie. Pallas afterwards noticed
what was supposed to be an animal of the same species, giving it the name of mus
empetra ; and Mr. Sabine, in the Linnean Transactions, has given a good description
of a specimen presented by the Hudson’s Bay Company to the British
Museum. The animal mentioned by Forster, in the Philosophical Transactions,
as the Quebec Marmot, is not this species, but the Arctomys Parryi, to be afterwards
noticed.
The Quebec Marmot inhabits the woody districts from Canada to latitude 61°,
and perhaps still further north. I was able to collect but little information
respecting it. It appears to be a solitary animal, inhabits burrows in the earth,
but ascends bushes and trees, probably in search of buds and other vegetable
matters, on which it feeds. Mr. Drummond killed two individuals,—one, on some
low bushes, and the other upon the branch of a tree. Pennant says, that the one
which he saw was very tame, and made a hissing noise. Mr. Graham mentions,
that this Marmot burrows in the earth, in a perpendicular manner, selecting dry spots
at some distance from the coast, and feeds on coarse grass, which it gathers by the
river-sides. The Indians take it by pouring water into its holes. When fat, its