49 



1O. ]Jliis tlecwmailiiS. Brown Rat. Abundant, and a great 

 pest about the government storehouses at Fort Hays. 



1?. Hesperoinys leiacopus, var. sonorieiisis (Coues 

 MS). Wliitefooted Mouse. A single specimen was picked up dead 

 in the yard at our quarters at Fort Hays. Probably more or less 

 common. (Also obtained at Cheyenne.) 



18. IVeotonia cisierea. Wood Rat. Apparently common 

 along the timbered portions of the streams. A complete skeleton 

 was found on the banks of Big Creek, near Fort Hays. 



1O. Filler zifretliicus. Muskrat. Occasional along the 

 streams. 



2O. Oeomys? A gopher (some species of Geomys or Thom- 

 omys} was more or less common in the moist bottom lands near the 

 streams, but none were captured. 



21. Castor liber. Beaver. Still quite frequent along the 

 timbered portions of the streams. 



22. Scimriis ciiiercus, var. iLiidoviciamis. Western 

 Fox Squirrel. Said to be common on some of the wooded streams, 

 but we did not meet with it. 



23. Spermoiiliiliis tridecem-Iineatus. Striped Prai- 

 rie Squirrel. More or less common generally, but most numerous near 

 the streams and clamp hollows. 



24. Cynoniys Liidovicianiis. Prairie Dog. Exceedingly 

 abundant, their villages frequently covering areas of several square 

 miles in extent, and embracing hundreds of families. Occasionally a 

 few pairs of burrowing owls (Speotyto cunicularia, var. hypogcea) in- 

 habited the "dog-towns." Rattlesnakes are occasional, and in one 

 or two instances were seen in holes about the mouths of which were 

 fresh tracks of the dogs. The theory that these three animals, the 

 dogs, the snakes and the owls, inhabit the same hole at the same 

 time, receives little credit among people thoroughly conversant with 

 their habits, and the idea that they live harmoniously together as 

 "happy families" finds still fewer supporters. The owls appear to 

 occupy only the abandoned holes, and probably never habitually live in 

 the same holes with the dogs. The owls are far from abundant, as 

 often several large villages may be passed in a day's ride without meet- 

 ing with a single owl. The owls may, to some extent, prey upon the 



ESSEX INST. BULLETIN. vi 4 



