I have received the drawing of a _monax_, or marmot of Canada, from
Mr. Collinson, but which appears to differ very much from the Alpine
marmot, its head not being of the same shape, and less covered with
hair, as is also the tail which is considerably longer. The _whistler_
mentioned by Baron Hontan, as found in Canada, is most probably of this
species, as his description nearly answers to it. He says it is called
whistler by the Canadians, because in fine weather they whistle at the
mouth of their holes; which we have before remarked is done by our
Alpine marmots, especially by the one appointed to stand as a guard.
An animal in Kamtschatka is called marmot by the Russian travellers:
they say its skin is beautiful, and at a distance it resembles the
plumage of a bird; and add, that it uses its fore-feet like a squirrel,
and feeds on roots, berries, and cedar-nuts; the latter however seems
to indicate an error, as the real cedar bears cones, and the other
trees so called, berries.
There is another species which comes from the Cape of Good Hope; this
was first spoken of by M. Allamand, but more fully described by M.
Pallas, and M. Vosmaer, who had one of them alive at Amsterdam; he
says it is known at the Cape by the name of the Rock Badger, merely
because it lives under the earth and in rocks, but has no resemblance
to that animal; and, as Kolbe justly remarks, that it resembles more
the marmot than the badger, we have called it the Marmot of the Cape.
M. Vosmaer observes in his description of it, that it was about the
size of a rabbit, had a large belly, fine eyes, and black hair upon its
eyebrows, above which it had a few long black hairs that turned towards
the head, and long whiskers. Its colour was grey, or rather a yellowish
brown intermixed with black hairs, much darker upon the head and back
than upon the belly, which as well as the breast was whitish, and it
had a white stroke across the shoulders which ended at the top of the
fore-legs.