PREFACE 



For the past ten years the writer has been an al- 

 most continual saunterer over mountain and 

 desert trails — a constant searcher of the wild 

 places of nature that he might know intimately 

 the green growing things and learn more of the 

 life-histories of the animals, birds, and insects 

 that dwell in the unfrequented and secluded 

 domains of the wild. It is with a desire to share 

 the pleasures derived from his observations and 

 studies that he sends forth these sketches of 

 the lives of the denizens of our Southwestern 

 deserts. 



The peculiar physical and meteorological con- 

 ditions which have made the North American 

 deserts have likewise had their influence upon 

 the animals that came to inhabit them. The en- 

 vironmental forces have in many ways so much 

 modified their bodies and their behavior that 

 they are recognized as being extraordinarily 

 unique among animals, and the desert fauna 

 stands out as among the most distinct of the 



