JALISCO POUCHED RAT 

 (Showing clieek pouches) 



:::::::::*; WALKS IX THE CACTUS COUNTRY B::::::::: 



It was astonishing: to see the amount of seeds which 

 one of these creatures could pack on each side of its 

 yellow incisors. No wonder 

 the weeds produced seeds 

 in such quantities if the 

 Pouched Rat was only one 

 of many creatures which 

 enjoyed the sweet meat of 

 the embryo jjlants. These 

 rats were very pugnacious 

 and constantly fought 

 among themselves, chasing 

 one another and clinching 

 — biting severely, if we 

 judge from the sharpness of the squeaks which pro- 

 ceeded from the rolling, tumbling combatants. 



Spermophiles — prairie-dog-like, but with their 

 backs decorated with white lines and dots — surprised 

 us by peeping out of the entrances of their ditch homes 

 and squeaking excitedly to each other the moment we 

 disappeared around a bend. When a towhee was 

 startled by us and saw no means of escape, it some- 

 times darted into the nearest hole, from which, if the 

 inhabitant was a Spermophile, the bird was promptly 

 ejected by the owner, — choosing the less immediate 

 danger of flying out past our very faces. 



One could not take a walk on the outskirts of the 

 city without noticing the miniature whirlwinds, six or 



«4 59 ^ 



