I 



CLASS MAMMALIA. 



193 



FIG. 332. 



Many of the Squirrels have feet formed for an ar- 

 boreal life. Such have a bushy tail, which aids them in 

 leaping, the hairs spreading out and breaking their fall. 

 In the coldest weather they remain in their nests in a 

 semi-torpid state, but with the first mild day are gam- 

 boling among the trees or skipping along the fences. 

 Besides the ordinary vegetable diet, 

 they devour large numbers of the 

 eggs and young of birds. 



The Prairie Dog is found on the 

 prairies west of the Mississippi. It 

 has a short, puppy-like yelp, accom- 

 panied with a quick jerk of the tail. 

 It digs a burrow descending at an 

 angle of forty degrees, and having 

 a bed of dried grass at the end. 

 These burrows are often placed close 

 together, forming a dog-town extend- 

 ing for miles. The animal has a curious habit of stand- 

 ing erect on the little mound at the mouth of its hole, 

 watching intently, and at the first alarm tumbling down 

 into its burrow. That the Prairie Dog tolerates in its 

 habitation the presence of the Burrowing Owl and the 

 Rattlesnake, is a myth. They are frequently found 

 among their burrows, but only to feed upon their young. 



The Striped Prairie Squirrel, is beautifully marked 

 by thirteen stripes on a ground of reddish-brown. The 

 closely cropped ears are a special feature of this genus, 



plaster their buildings, and as a hod to carry the mortar they are said to pre- 

 pare. Lewis H. Morgan says : " He uses his tail to pack and compress mud and 

 earth while constructing a lodge or dam, which he effects by heavy and re- 

 peated down strokes, an office not unlike some of the uses of a trowel." They 

 lay up food for winter by sinking logs and bark near their houses, but in sum. 

 naer feed upon grass, fruits, and roots. 



(Ji/ri 5 mys lu do vie i a' 

 Prairie Dog. ( J.) 



