2 ANIMALS AT WORK AND PLA Y 



the Zoo. There are several sets of these genial 

 little fellows in the Gardens, two or three in a cage, 

 each of which is supplied with a sleeping-box in 

 one corner, while every other day a few handfuls 

 of fresh straw are put in. In the morning, the prairie- 

 dogs carry every bit of their last night's bed out 

 of the box, and throw it out into the cage. They 

 then eat their breakfast, and spend the day in playing 

 about, staring visitors out of countenance, cramming 

 long pieces of straw into their mouths and pouches, 

 and nibbling carrots. About three o'clock, when the 

 days are short, they suddenly recollect that they 

 have not made their beds, and at once set to work 

 in a hurry to get it done before dark. As the 

 closing-bell rings at dusk, and that is the moment 

 at which the prairie-dogs earnestly desire to be in 

 bed, it almost seems, to anyone who watches them, 

 as if they knew the time and were waiting for the 

 ' curfew ' before turning in. But bed-making with 

 them is a very serious matter. Common straw, 

 dragged in just as it is, does not suit them at all. 

 It has all to be cut up to a certain length, and 

 then carried in in bundles and * made up ' inside. 

 Each prairie-dog sits up on end, and crams straw into 

 its mouth in a most dreadful hurry, holding the straws 

 1 across and breaking them off on each side with its paws, 

 exactly as sewing-maids indulge in the bad habit of break- 



