324 SPEOTYTO CUNICULAEIA VAR. HYPOG^A. 



are frequently seen ji.broacl during pleasant weather throughout the 

 winter." 



Having been noticed by the earlier writers in special connection with 

 the singular settlements of the prairie-dog {Cynomys ludovicianus), and 

 the life relations of the two creatures being really intimate in very 

 many localities, an almost inseparable association of ideas has been 

 brought about, which is only partly true; and it was a long time before 

 the whole truth in the case became apparent. When competent ob- 

 servers, familiar with the animals, disagree, as they have, respecting 

 the kind and degree of relation between the bird and the mammals, we 

 need not be surprised at conflict of opinion in the books of nataralists 

 Vv'ho never saw either of them alive. The case is further complicated by 

 tiie introduction of the rattlesnakes ; and no little pure bosh is in type 

 respecting the harmonious and contidential relations imagined to sub- 

 sist between the trio, which, like the "happy family" of Bariium, lead 

 Utopian existences. According to the dense bathos of such nursery 

 tales, in this underground Elysium the snakes give their rattles to the 

 puppies to play with, the old dogs cuddle the Owlets, and farm out their 

 own litters to the grave and careful birds; when an Owl and a dog come 

 home, paw-in-wing, they are often mistaken by their respective j)rogeny, 

 the little dogs nosing the Owls in search of the maternal font, and the 

 old dogs left to wonder why the baby Owls will not nurse. It is a pity 

 to spoil a good story for the sake of a few facts, but as the case stands, 

 it would be well for the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals 

 to take it up. First, as to the reptiles, it may be observed that they are 

 like other rattlesnakes, dangerous, venomous creatures ; they have no 

 business in the burrows, and are alter no good when they do enter. 

 They wriggle into the holes, partly because there is no other place for 

 them to crawl into on the bare, flat plain, and partly in search of Owls' 

 eggs, Owlets, and puppies, to eat. Next, the Owls themselves are simply 

 attracted to the villages of prairie-dogs as the most convenient places 

 for shelter and nidification. where they find eligible ready-made burrows, 

 and are spared the trouble of digging for themselves. Community of 

 iuterest makes them gregarious to an extent unusual among rapacious 

 birds ; while the exigencies of life on the plains cast their lot with the 

 rodents. That the Owls live at ease in the settlements, and on familiar 

 terms with their four-footed neighbors, is an undoubted fact; but that 

 they inhabit the same burrows, or have any intimate domi rtic relations, 

 is quite another thing. It is no proof that the quadruped c>nd the birds 

 live together, that they are often seen to scuttle at each other's heels 

 into the same hole when alarmed ; for in such a case the two simply 

 seek the nearest shelter, independently of each other. The probability 

 is, that young dogs often furnish a meal to the Owls, and that, in return, 

 the latter are often robbed of their eggs ; while certainly the young of 

 both, and the Owls' eggs, are eaten by the snakes. In the larger settle- 

 ments there are thousands upon thousands of burrows, many occupied 

 by the dogs, but more, perhaps, vacant. These latter are the homes of 

 the Owls. Moreover, the ground below "is honey-combed with commu- 

 nicating passages, leading in every direction. If the underground plan 

 could be mapped, it would resemble the city of Boston, with its tortuous 

 and devious streets. The dogs are continually busy iu fair weather in 

 repairing and extending their establishments ; the main entrances may 

 be compared to the stump of a hollow tree, the interior of which com- 

 municates with many hollow branches that moreover intersect, these 

 passages finally ending in little pockets, the real home of the animals. 

 It is quite possible t%^)^g^pe|5)5^^i§/^®ats of a dog and an Owl 



