Field-Labourers 65 



of a tree-squirrel. It has a large nest lined with leaves 

 and grass; and the storehouses of one burrow have 

 been found to yield a grand supply of food — a quart of 

 hazel-nuts, nearly a peck of acorns, two quarts of 

 buckwheat, and smaller quantities of other vegetable 

 food. 



The Prairie-dog, of the same family, is rather larger, 

 and something between a squirrel and a marmot in 

 appearance. Its * villages,' ' towns,' or warrens cover 

 many square miles, and in some parts are so extremely 

 numerous as to have undermined extensive tracts of 

 pasture-land, much to the inconvenience and danger of 

 horses, not to mention their riders. 



The dog-towns, so-called, are ruled by a * big-dog,' 

 who sits on a mound in front of his burrow, apparently 

 directing the affairs of the community. 



The Gopher, or Canada pouched-rat, too, is to be 

 found in the prairie, where it dwells not merely in 

 thousands, but in hundreds of thousands, and has so 

 completely taken, perhaps we should rather say kept, 

 possession, that in some parts other quadrupeds are 

 almost excluded. The Gophers extend over hundreds 

 of thousands of square miles, and have honey-combed 

 millions of acres. One may indeed ride for days 

 and even weeks through some districts, finding them 

 everywhere as plentiful as if the whole district 

 were one vast warren. If ever the lands should be 

 settled, the first husbandmen will have a hard fight 

 for possession with the present owners, whose diligence 

 in burrowing is wonderful, for they work both night 

 and day, though they do not go nearly as deep as the 

 ' dogs.' 



The burrows will just admit a man's arm at the 



5 



