360 THE QUADRUPEDS OF ARIZONA. 
with each other upon the ramparts of their citadels. I 
have no doubt that the subterranean passages intercom- 
municate, and that each animal does not have its own 
entrance, though he may possess private apartments be- 
low. In the vicinity of large encampments, the grass, 
herbage, and in fact everything green is so closely crop- 
ped, that the ground is almost bare; and it becomes a 
matter for wonder that so many animals can contrive to 
fill their stomachs. As is the case with those of the 
prairie dog, the villages are inhabited by a species of 
burrowing owl, which takes possession of deserted holes. 
Over the dry plain the graceful mountain plover courses 
swiftly along; while overhead, or resting upon the 
ground, is the great squirrel hawk, on the look-out for 
its prey. 
The general manners of these animals call forcibly to 
mind the prairie dogs. Like them, they hardly venture 
far from their burrows, to which they hasten precipitately 
on the first sign of an alarm. Reaching the entrance, 
they stop a moment in a squat attitude, or rise on their 
hind-quarters, the better to reconnoitre, venting their 
displeasure and suspicion by a sharp, chattering bark. 
They are tough, muscular animals, and must be hard hit 
to be killed; and even when mortally wounded, will 
make use of their convulsive death-struggles to reach 
their burrows, into which they at last drop exhausted, 
and may be thus lost to the collector. 
The Line-tailed Spermophile (S. grammurus Say), iS 
another common species, especially of the southern por- ' 
tions, whence it extends into Mexico. It has a peculiar 
appearance, produced mainly by its tail, calling to mind a 
true Sciurus; so much so, that it has been placed in that 
genus by some writers, although a true Spermophilus. 
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