74 CASSELL'S POPULAR NATURAL HISTORY. 



full of sport, business, and public affairs, whisking about hither and thither, as if on visits to each 

 other's holes ; ,-..iiu'ivi:atini{ in the open air, and gambolling together in the cool evening after showers. 



Smiet'i I thc\ pM half the night in revelry, barking and yelping with weak tones, like young 



puppii-; but on the 1,-a-t alarm they all vanish into their cells, and the village remains blank and 

 silent. Should th.-v U- surprised, and have no means of escape, they assume a pugnacious air, and a 

 1,10,1 whim-ic.,1 U.'k of impotent wrath and defiance. The prairie dogs are not, however, the sole 

 inhabitant.* of these villages. Owls and rattlesnakes are said to take up their abode with them ; but 

 whether inviU-d guests or unwelcome intruders, is a matter of controversy. 



"The accounts I received of these very social and politic little animals made me approach the 

 village with great interest. I" n fortunately, it had been visited in the course of the day by some of the 



is, who had even shot two or three of the citizens. The whole community, therefore, was 

 outraged and incensed. Sentinels seemed to have been posted on the outskirts. On our approach, 

 there appeared t.. be a scampering in of the picket-guards to give the alarm ; whereupon, the wary 

 citizens, who were seated at the entrances to their holes, gave each a short yelp or bark, and dived 

 into the earth, his heels twinkling in the air as he descended, as if he had thrown a somersault. We 

 traversed tin; whole village. Not a single inhabitant was to be seen. There were innumerable holes, 

 each having a small hillock of earth about it, thrown out by the little animal in burrowing. These 

 holes were empty as far ;us we could probe them with the ramrods of our rifles ; nor could we unearth 

 either dog, or owl, or rattlesnake. 



" Moving off quietly to a little distance, we lay down on the ground, and watched for a long time 

 silent and motionless. By degrees some cautious old citizen, near at hand, would slowly put forth the 

 end of his nose, but instantly withdraw it. Others, further off, would emerge entirely, but, catching a 

 glance of us, would throw a somersault and dive back into their holes. At length the inhabitants of the 

 opposite side of the village, taking courage from the continued stillness, would steal forth and hurry off 

 to a distant hole, as if to the residence of some relation or gossiping friend, where they might compare 

 notes on the late occurrences. Others, still more bold, assembled in little knots in the streets and 

 public places, to discuss the recent outrages offered to the commonwealth, and the atrocious murder of 

 their fellow-citizens. We rose from the ground and moved forwards softly, to reconnoitre them more 

 distinctly, when yelp ! yelp ! yelp ! passed from mouth to mouth. There was a sudden disposal. We 

 caught glimpses of twinkling feet in every direction, and in an instant all had vanished into the 

 earth." 



So far was what we have written actually in type, when a new light was suddenly cast on the 

 structure, habits, and place of this animal. The Hon. G. F. Berkeley has just brought a distance of 

 many thousand miles a feat for which he is entitled to no little credit the first specimen of the 

 10 c.dled " prairie dog" ever seen alive in this country, and since deposited in the Zoological Gardens. 

 Its proper name, according to Mr. Sclater, is Archtymys Ludoviciamis, and it may be seen in the top- 

 most cage on the left, on entering the small mammalia house, which stands close by the seal's bath. 

 It is fiv.,uently covered up in its nest, but, if it be out, the visitor will observe a pretty little creatiu-e, 

 whose soft, fur-like hair is ,.f a red colour, not unlike a cub-fox, and whose head is excessively broad 

 and flat, and thus admirably adapted to its mode of life, as this form prevents its knocking that part 

 against the top of its run, whilst its wedge-shape aids its digging operations. The eyes are large and 

 prominent, and well suited for keeping a sharp look-out over the prairie, while, for its defence from 

 the boM sand in the holes leading to the burrows, there is a special provision. Mr. F. T. Buckland 

 remarks : I caused the animal to shut its eye, and found that it has the power of partially withdraw- 

 ing it into the lookai ; then the eyelids do not close, as in ordinary animals, but the lotr'i-r lid comes 

 up from beneath, like a curtain drawn upwards, shading and securing it from dust and dirt." The 

 ' "'' armed with four long black nails, and there is a fifth short claw, which acts more or "less 

 thumb. H sits up on its haunches, with an alarmed and ludicrously grave face, and then 

 ly pops into itoiuwt We are inclined, with the naturalists who have seen it, to consider that it does 

 !> pmuCoau at all it not being properly a dog, a wolf, or a fox ; and that the place 

 Migned it, is among ,1,,. Indents,* to which it is very strongly assimilated. We 

 tins animal when we describe the structure and habits of the burrowing owl. 

 Si .. vol. i., page 21-1, I 





