ZOOLOGY 95 



The coyote is not a strict carnivore in his appetite but is 

 particularly fond of the "prickly pears." So much so, indeed, 

 that they usually take the entire crop within a few weeks of 

 the time they become ripe. The writer has been told they 

 often raid a water-melon patch. 



The Praire Horned-lark which is, as we have said above, 

 the bird of the mesa has a very interesting way of spending 

 the night especially in winter when domestic cares do not 

 necessitate other arrangements. Trees and shrubs being 

 absent it has no place to perch. Instead it hollows out a 

 hole on the leeward side of a hill or undulation of the mesa 

 to fit its body so that its back is level with the surface of the 

 ground and there it spends the night. It is interesting to 

 note the native people when they sleep on the open mesa 

 as frequently happens, in winter, often make exactly the 

 same arrangements. 



These birds are gregarious in winter but separate in 

 summer. 



"THE GRASSY STEPPE" OF THE "MESA" 



In addition to those found the mesa over, the following are 

 nearly or quite restricted to these more grassy parts. 



Hippiscus cerallipes, Hald. This species is by no means 

 restricted to the mesa but ranges over the mountains 

 generally, being found on the very top of Mt. Taylor, but 

 always in places covered with a good growth of grass. Fall 

 and Cockerell report it from LasCruces. This in connection 

 with the Mt. Taylor record will give it the immense vertical 

 range of between eight and nine thousand feet, illustrating 

 well the insufficiency of temperature alone as a controlling 

 factor in distribution. Its ecological distribution i. e. good 

 grassland, is much narrower. Those on Mt. Tayior seemed 

 to have shorter wings than those about Albuquerque. The 

 first adult was found on June 5th. and they were still abund- 

 ant on Nov. 1st. Well-developed nymphs with wing pads 

 were found in hibernation under yucca stems on Mar. 11, 

 and late Nov. 



Also collected about Acoma. It ranges to Utah. 



Tropidolophus formosus, Say. All of my collections are 

 from Aug. to Oct. Ranges to Colo, and Wyoming. 



Lycus fernandezii, Duger. (S.) 



