THE PRAIRIE DOG. 157 
five longitudinal black stripes and two streaks of yellowish white, so that it 
is a most conspicuous little creature, and by these peculiar stripes may 
easily be distinguished from any other animal. The abdomen and throat are 
white. It is slightly variable in colour according to the locality in which it 
exists, and has been known to be so capricious of hue as to furnish specimens 
of pure white and jet black. As a fur it is extremely elegant, and if it were 
not quite so common would long since have taken nearly as high a rank as 
the sable or ermine. 
The length of the Hackee is about eleven inches, the tail being about four 
inches and a half inlength. It is, however, slightly variable in dimensions 
as well as in colour. 
The Hackee is one of the liveliest and briskest of quadrupeds, and by 
reason of its quick and rapid movements, has not inaptly been compared 
with the wren. It is chiefly seen among brushwood and small timber ; and 
as it whisks about the branches, or shoots through theii interstices with its 
peculiar quick, jerking movements, and its odd, quaint, little clucking cry, 
like the chip-chipping of newly-hatched chickens, the analogy between itself 
and the bird is very apparent. As it is found in such plenty, and is a bold 
little creature, it is much persecuted by small boys, who, although they are 
not big or wise enough to be entrusted with guns, wherewith to work the 
destruction of larger game, arm themselves with long sticks, and by dexterous 
management knock down many a Hackee as it tries to escape frum its 
pursuers by running along the rail fences. Among boys the popular name 
of the Hackee is the “ Chipmuck.” 
It is a burrowing animal, making its little tunnels in various retired spots, 
but generally preferring an old tree, or the earth which is sheltered by a wall, 
a fence, ora bank. The burrows are rather complicated, and as they run 
to some length, the task of digging the animal out of its retreat is no easy one. 
THE well-known PRAIRIE DoG, as it is called, is not a dog at all, but 
belongs to the Marmots. It is found in very great plenty along the coast of 
the Missouri and its tributaries, and also near the River Platte. It congregates 
together in vast numbers in certain spots where the soil is favourable to its 
subterranean habits of life, and the vegetation is sufficiently luxuriant to 
afford it nourishment. The colour of this animal is reddish brown upon the 
back, mixed with grey and black in a rather vague manner. The abdomen 
and throat are greyish white, and the short tail is clothed for the first half 
of its length with hair of the same tint as that of the body, and for the 
remaining half is covered with deep blackish brown hair, forming a kind of 
brush. The cheek-pouches are rather small, and the incisor teeth are large 
and protruding from the mouth. The length of the animal rather exceeds 
sixteen inches, the tail being a little more than three inches long. The cheek- 
pouches are about three-quarters of an inch in depth, and are half that 
measurement in diameter. 
The Prairie Dog is a burrowing animal, and as it is very gregarious in its 
habits, the spot on which it congregates is literally heneycombed with its 
tunnels. There is, however, a kind of order observed in the “ dog-towns,” 
as these warrens are popularly called, for the animals always leave certain 
roads or streets in which no burrow is made. The affairs of the community 
seem to be regulated by a single leader, called the Big Dog, who sits before 
the entrance of his burrow, and issues his orders from thence to the com- 
munity. In front of every burrow a small heap of mould is raised, which is 
made from the excavated soil, and which is generally employed as a seat for 
the occupant of the burrow. 
As long as no danger is apprehended the little animals are all in lively 
motion, sitting upon their mounds, or hurrying from one tunnel to another as 
