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ITS CHARACTER. 229 
ed name. Its yelp, which resembles that 
of the little toy-dog, seems its only canine 
attribute. It rather appears to occupy a mid- 
dle ground betwixt the rabbit and squirrel— 
like the former in feeding and burrowing— 
like the latter in frisking, flirting, sitting erect, 
and somewhat so in its barking 
The prairie dog has been reckoned by some 
naturalists a species of the marmot (arctomys 
ludoviciana); yet it seems to possess scarce any 
other quality in common with this animal ex- 
cept that of burrowing. Some have supposed, 
it is true, that like the marmot, they lie torpid 
during the cold season ; and it is observed in 
‘Long’s Expedition,’ that, “as they pass the 
winter in. a lethargic state, they lay up no pro- 
visions,” &c.: but this is no doubt erroneous ; 
for I have the concurrent testimony of several 
persons, who have been upon the Prairies in 
winter, that, like rabbits and squirrels, they is- 
sue from their holes every soft day ; and there- 
fore lay up no doubt a hoard of ‘hay’ (as there 
is rarely anything ‘else to be found in the 
vicinity of their towns), for winter's use. 
A collection of their burrows has been 
termed by travellers a ‘dog town,’ which com- 
prises from a dozen or so, to some thousands 
in the same vicinity ; often covering an area of 
several square miles, They generally locate 
upon firm dry plains, coated with fine short 
grass, upon which they feed; for they are no- 
doubt exclusively herbivorous. But even 
when tall coarse grass surrounds, they seem 
. AON to aree this within their ‘ streets,’ 
