CHAPTER XX 7. 



A GEOUND-SQUIEEEL— A MOUSE'S NEST — HUMMING-BIRDS AND THEIR 

 YOUNG ONES — THE LOCUST TREE — MEXICAN 'WOLVES AND THEIR 

 RETREAT. 



WAS suddenly awakened by the report of a gun just as the 

 day was breaking. L'Encuerado showed me an enormous 

 squirrel, with a gray back and white belly — a species 

 which never climbs, and is, for this reason, called by Indians 

 Jmotli (ground-squirrel). This animal, which lives in a burrow, 

 has all the grace and vivacity of its kind, but it can never be domes- 

 ticated. It generally goes about in numerous bands, and, when 

 near cultivation, will commit in a single night great destruction ; 

 the farmers, consequently, wage against it a war of extermination. 

 Just as we were setting out, I'Encuerado, whose arm was visibly 

 healing up, again took charge of the basket. I allowed him to 



