ORDER RODENTIA. 199 



The specimen in question was brought from Louisiana, 

 (where the animal was known by the name of the Prairie 

 Dog,) by Messrs. Lewis and Clarke; we must, therefore, 

 take it for granted to be of the same species as that men- 

 tioned by Le Rey. 



The colour of this animal is pretty uniform, varying only 

 in intensity ; on the back, however, it may be said to be 

 red, mixed and lowered with white ; the tail, particularly 

 towards the end, yellowish ; the rest of the animal light 

 ochre colour, darker on the head and back of the neck. 

 The head is altogether more spherical in shape than that 

 of the Maryland Marmot, with the nose more truncated ; 

 the ears very small and circular, with a black edge ; the eyes 

 are large and round ; the nostrils cleft laterally ; the upper 

 lip cleft ; the space from the nose to the lip whitish, and 

 furnished on each side with a few long whiskers ; the toes 

 are five on all the feet, with rather long, sharp, unguicu- 

 lated claws; the tail is about one-fifth the length of the 

 body, which measures, from the tip of the nose to the anus, 

 about sixteen inches. 



In James's Expedition to the Rocky Mountains, we are 

 informed that these animals occupy burrows in particular 

 districts of limited extent, and that these dwellings are 

 usually denominated by the hunters the Prairie-dog villages. 

 These villages are various in extent, some confined to a 

 few acres only, while others are extended over as many 

 miles. 



In the progress of excavating their burrows, these ani- 

 mals form truncated conical mounds, raised about six or 

 eight inches above the surface, and almost two or three feet 

 in circumference at the base; the whole face of these 

 mounds, but more especially the top of them, is trodden 

 down, and rendered solid and compact ; the top is per- 

 forated by a comparatively large hole, which descends ver- 

 tically for one or two feet, and then goes off in an oblique 



