1887] Description of a New Species of Dipodomys. 47 
ripe some months and naturally were pretty well gathered in, 
but this colony had depended considerably on the waste of 
the travellers who usually camped in the immediate vicinity. 
The travel had ceased in July when the stream dried up, and 
thus compelled the use of a longer route until the winter rains 
should start the stream running again. This hunger may have 
caused them to tame quicker. I heard the trap-door fall when 
the first one was caught, and immediately took it out and put it 
in a cage and gave it grain. It was amusing to see the eagerness 
with which it immediately went to filling its pockets. It stuffed 
them so full that it must have been positively painful, and then 
it would not stop to eat, but hunted about for some exit; not 
finding one, it ejected the contents of its pockets in a corner out 
of the firelight and went back for more. This time it ate a little, 
but soon gathered the remainder and deposited it with the first. 
After eating a little more, it refilled its pockets and hunted about 
for a better place to make a cache, seeming to think its first 
choice insecure. These actions plainly show that they are in 
the habit of storing away their surplus. In grain-fields infested 
by D. phillipsi, the plough will often turn up a deposit of a pint or 
so when the field is ploughed for re-seeding. The loss to farmers 
is thus quite considerable at times. 
Having watched them repeatedly, I can say positively that the 
pockets are filled with the fore feet used as hands. When placed 
at a pile of grain, when hungry, they fill the pockets very quickly, 
both pockets being filled alike. The two pockets of D. deserti 
will hold a heaping tablespoonful of grain, and are, therefore, 
capable of carrying nearly a full day’s supplies. The filling is 
done so rapidly that, where a hard grain like wheat is used, a 
continuous rattling sound is made. The ejecting of the grain 
from the pockets is aided by a forward, squeezing motion of the 
fore feet, each foot making two or three quick forward passes - 
occupying scarcely a second of time. For the first few days all 
grain put in the cages was immediately pocketed, but since then 
they rarely fill their pockets, seeming to have found its use- 
lessness. ; 
The position at rest is a curious one. At first the animal 
stands on all four feet, with the entire sole of the hind feet rest- 
ing on the ground, some of the weight coming on the fore feet; 
presently the hind feet will hitch forward until the centre of the 
