loo DENIZENS OF THE DESERT 



defend it against all encroachers. Very often 

 there was much quarreling going on among 

 them, and this was always accompanied by a 

 great deal of noise, the ammos making sounds 

 much like those made by quarreling mountain 

 chipmunks. 



Altogether there are about a dozen of these 

 "chipmunks" that feed near my shanty, and 

 during the day when no one is around to dis- 

 turb them I generally find most of them nos- 

 ing around hunting for something to eat. The 

 number of track-marks that they make on the 

 soft dirt in a day is amazing. Hardly a square 

 inch of ground is there which they do not cover. 

 Not a thing that is edible and open to their 

 reach is undiscovered. Like most rodents, they 

 are able to consume a surprising amount of food, 

 and when they have more than they want they 

 carry off the rest in their cheek pouches. When 

 they find a store of food they are indefatigable 

 workers, and will not leave it until the whole of 

 it is placed safely away. Several times they got 

 into the burro's barley bag, and I found that, 

 though the cheek pouches of a single chipmunk 

 hold but slightly more than a heaping teaspoon- 



