3G4 VERTEBRATA. 



falo at the distance of one hundred and fifty yards, and there was no jumping off, or running 

 away by a deer, when struck in the right place; to use a common expression, 'he would never 

 know what had hurt him.' Hit "tic of the dogs where he would, with a small ball, he would 

 almosl invariably turn a peculiar somerset, and gel into a hole; but by a ball from my rifle the 

 entire head of the animal would be knocked off, and after this there was no escape. With the 

 shot-gun, again, we could do nothing but waste ammunition. 1 fired at one dog, not ten steps 

 off, having in it a good charge of buckshot, and thought I must cut him into fragments. I 

 wounded him severely, bul with perhaps three or four shot through him, he was still able to 

 wiggle and tumble into his hole. 



"For three hours we remained in this Commonwealth, watching the movements of the inhabit- 

 ant-, and occasionally picking of]' due of the more unwary. No less than nine were got by the 

 party, and one circumstance 1 would mention as singular in the extreme, and showing the social 

 relationship that exists among those animals, as well as the kind regard they have for one an- 

 other. < Mie of them had perched himself upon the pile of earth in front of his hole, sitting up, and 

 exposing a fair mark, while a companion's head was seen poking out of the entrance, too timid, 

 perhaps, to trust himself farther; a well-directed ball from my rifle carried away the entire top of 

 the former's head, knocking him some two or three feet from his post, perfectly dead. While re- 

 loading, the other boldly came out, seized his companion by one of the legs, and before we could 

 reach the hole, had drawn him completely out of sight. There was a touch of feeling in the lit- 

 tle incident, a something human, which raised the animal in mv estimation, and ever after I did 

 not attempt to kill one of them, except when driven by extreme hunger. 



•• Prairie-dogs are a wild, frolicsome, mad-cap set of fellows when undisturbed, uneasy, and ever 

 on th>' move, and appear to take especial delight in chattering away the time, and visiting from 

 hole to hole to gossip and talk over each others' affairs; at least, so their actions would indicate. 

 When thi'V find a good location for a village, and there is no water in the immediate vicinity, old 

 hunters say they dig a well to supply the wants of the community. On several occasions, I crept 

 close to their villages, without being observed, to watch their movements. Directly in the cei 

 of one of them, 1 particularly noticed a very large dog sitting in front of the door or entrance 

 his burrow, and by his own actions and those of his neighbors, it really seemed as if he were the 

 dent, mayor, or chief; at all events, he was the 'big dog' of the place. 



•• For at leasl an hour I secretly watched the operations in this community. During that time, 

 the large dog I have mentioned received at least a dozen visits from his fellow-dogs, which would 

 stop and chat with him a lew moments, and then run off to their domicils. All this while, he 

 never left his post for a moment, and I thought I could perceive a gravity in his deportment not 

 discernible in those by whom he was surrounded. Far is it from me to say that the visits he re- 

 ceived were upon business, or had anything to do with the local government of the village, but it 

 certainly appeared so. If any animal has a system of laws regulating the body politic it is cer- 

 tainly the prairie-dog." 



Mr. Kendall further tells us that this animal enters his burrow with a half-somerset, knocking 

 his hind-feet together as he pitches headlong into the blackness below. Before the spectator has 

 recovered from the laugh which this drollery excites, he will see the dog stealthily thrust his 

 lead out with a gaze of curiosity and impertinence. 



Tie- Leopard Spermophile is one of the most beautiful of all the striped species of spermo- 

 phile. h resembles the chipping-squirrel in size and appearance, but exceeds that pretty creature 

 in the splendor of its skin. The general color is bright reddish-brown, but along the back are live 

 deep brown Btripes, each having a row of square white spots running through it. These dark- 

 colored Btripes arc separated from each other by straight lines of vellowish-white. There arc. 

 also, on each side, two less distincl brown stripes, not spotted. Thus the skin of this animal pre- 

 sent- nine .lark stripes — live of them spotted -and eight yellowish-white stripes. 4 



It is not Strange that a creature thus distinguished should have attracted great attention. 

 Schoolcraft calls it the Leopard Ground- Squirrel, which is a good descriptive title; Godman 

 calls it Hood Marmot; Harlan denominates it Arctomys tredecim-lineatus, .or Thirteen-lined 

 Marmot; (iervais, Spermophile a treizc Injurs. The body is six inches long ; the tail, with the! 



