150 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 
culty. Referring to this matter Dr. Merriam 
made the following appealing remarks in a re- 
cent paper on these pests in California: 
Striped spermophiles exist along the grassy 
eastern border of the plains right down to the 
Gulf of Mexico; and Texas has, besides, a 
beautiful little ‘‘sand-squirrel,’’ spotted with 
white on a yellowish ground, relieved by black 
markings. It is a shy, inconspicuous little 
creature, rarely noticed until it attracts atten- 
tion by a fine trilling bird-like whistle. These 
and other spermophiles are most numerous” 
where the mesquit grows, for its seeds afford 
them good food. They are fond, too, of, the 
fruit of the small prickly pear, the sand-bur, 
and other shrubs and weeds, and eat many 
grasshoppers and other insects. The graceful 
antelope-squirrel, taking its name from its col- 
ors, is another species conspicuous for its 
beauty, carrying its short, wide, white-lined tail 
curled over its back like a plume. All these 
burrow at the edge of thickets and cactus 
clumps and apparently hibernate. Sometimes 
they do much damage by boring through the 
banks of irrigating ditches. Another south- 
