15 



species will at times seize upon young 

 chickens and carry them off. Certain it 

 is that they are fond of flesh, as they will 

 kill and eat birds while in captivity, and for 

 this reason I believe they do much destruc- 

 tion among our smaller ground-nesting 

 birds. They are, however, credited with 

 destroying quantities of injurious insects, 

 chiefly in the larval form, but any bene- 

 ficial qualities in this regard are quite off- 

 set by their destructiveness. It is there- 

 fore plain that agriculturists are very un- 

 wise to destroy the hawks which prey upon 

 these pests and leave them to increase and 

 continue their depredations unchecked. 



The most generally known spermophile 

 of the three species inhabiting the western 



of wood, a small clump of grass of a fence- 

 post, which usually conceals the entrance 

 to the burrow. As this species frequents 

 the grain fields and more open ground, it 

 is the usual prey to the large hawks, which 

 may be seen beating up and down the 

 fields, and these hawks know that when a 

 gopher disappears into his burrow he is 

 full of curiosity and will soon come out 

 again to see what frightened him. 1 he 

 hawk, by remaining motionless at the edge 

 of the hole, is able to crasp the animal sud- 

 denly upon his reappearance, if he is not 

 meanwhile shot as a chicken thief. 



Of the two remaining species, Franklin's 

 spermophile {S pernio philus Franklini), 

 gray gopher, gray squirrel or brush gopher. 





Gray Gopher. (Spermophilus Frankhm. 



prairies, and certainly the most generally 

 destructive to grain crops, is the striped 

 spermophile. Spermophilus tridecim- 



lineatus, more familiarly known as the 

 striped gopher. This species ranges from 

 the Red river valley across the province, 

 and from the U. S. to latitude 53 deg. n. 

 It is possibly most common in the district 

 east of the gravel ridges and hills, and can 

 be seen along every roadside and in almost 

 every field in greater or less numbers. 

 Scurrying along in a mouse-like fashion to 

 the entrance to its burrow, where it ele- 

 vates itself upon its hind legs and remains 

 motionless as a stake until approached too 

 closely, when, with a shrill whistle or 

 trill, it disappears apparently into a btock 



as it is also called, is a much larger species 

 than the striped spermophile. but is not 

 generally so numerous and is destruci-ive 

 according to its numbers. The gray 

 gophers range the entire fertile belt of the 

 prairie country from the Northern States 

 to Carlton House on the Saskatcnewan 

 river. They prefer the vicinity of rank 

 herbage or brush, and their food is more 

 of a wild nature, unless they happen to be 

 in the vicinity of a grain field. At such 

 times they can do great damage, if touiid 

 in any numbers. This species will most 

 frequently fall a prey to the red-tailed hawk 

 and kindred species which sit about tl'.ese 

 brushy localities alert for straying rodents, 

 and also to the diurnal hunting owls. 



