364 
VEETEBRATA. 
falo at the distance of one hundred and fifty yards, and there was no jumping off, or running 
away by a deer, when struck in the right place; to use a common expression, 'he would never 
know what had hurt him.' Hit one of the dogs where he would, with a small ball, he would 
almost invariably turn a peculiar somerset, and get into a hole ; but by a ball from my rifle the 
entire head of the animal would be knocked off, and after this there was no escape. "With the 
shot-gun, again, we could do nothing but waste ammunition. I fired at one dog, not ten steps 
off; having in it a good charge of buckshot, and thought I must cut him into fragments. I 
wounded him severely, but with perhaps three or four shot through him, he was still able to 
wiggle and tumble into his hole. 
"For three hours we remained in this commonwealth, watching the movements of the inhabit- 
ants, and occasionally picking oft' one of the more unwary. JSTo less than nine were got by the 
party, and one circumstance I would mention as singular in the extreme, and showing the social 
relationship that exists among those animals, as well as the kind regard they have for one an- 
other. One of them had perched himself upon the pile of earth in front of his hole, sitting up, and 
exposing a fair mark, while a companion's head was seen poking out of the entrance, too timid, 
perhaps, to trust himself farther; a Avell-directed ball from my rifle carried away the entire top of 
the former's head, knocking him some two or three feet from his post, perfectly dead. While re- 
loading, the other boldly came out, seized his companion by one of the legs, and before we could 
reach the hole, had drawn him completely out of sight. There was a touch of feeling in the lit- 
tle incident, a something human, which raised the animal in my estimation, and ever after I did 
not attempt to kill one of them, except when driven by extreme hunger. 
"Prairie-dogs are a wild, frolicsome, mad-cap set of fellows when undisturbed, uneasy, and ever 
on the move, and appear to take especial delight in chattering away the time, and visiting from 
hole to hole to gossip and talk over each others' aff"airs; at least, so their actions would indicate. 
"When they find a good location for a village, and there is no water in the immediate vicinity, old 
hunters say they dig a well to supply the wants of the community. On several occasions, I crept 
close to their villages, Avithout being observed, to watch their movements. Directly in the center 
of one of them, I particularly noticed a very large dog sitting in front of the door or entrance to 
his burroAV, and by his own actions and those of his neighbors, it really seemed as if he were the 
president, mayor, or chief; at all events, he was the 'big dog' of the place. 
" For at least an hour I secretly watched the operations in this community. During that time, 
the large dog I have mentioned received at least a dozen visits from his fellow-dogs, which would 
stop and chat with him a few moments, and then run off" to their domicils. All this while, he 
never left his post for a moment, and I thought I could perceive a gravity in his deportment not 
discernible in those by whom he was surrounded. Far is it from me to say that the visits he re- 
ceived were upon business, or had any thing to do with the local government of the village, but it 
certainly appeared so. If any animal has a system of laws regulating the body politic it is cer- 
tainly the prairie-dog." 
Mr. Kendall further tells us that this animal enters his burrow with a half-somerset, knocking 
his hind-feet together as he pitches headlong into the blackness below. Before the spectator has 
recovered from the laugh which this drollery excites, he will see the dog stealthily thrust his 
head out with a gaze of curiosity and impertinence. 
The Leopard Spermophile is one of the most beautiful of all the striped species of spermo- 
phile. It resembles the chipping-squirrel in size and appearance, but exceeds that pretty creature 
in the splendor of its skin. The general color is bright reddish-brown, but along the back are five 
deep brown stripes, each having a row of square white spots running through it. These dark- 
colored stripes are separated from each other by straight lines of yellowish -white. There are, 
also, on each side, two less distinct brown stripes, not spotted. Thus the skin of this animal pre- 
sents nine dark stripes — five of them spotted — and eight yellowish-white stripes. 
It is not strange that a creature thus distinguished should have attracted great attention. 
Schoolcraft calls it the Leopard Ground- Squirrel^ which is a good descriptive title ; Godman 
calls it Hood Marmot ; Harlan denominates it Arctomys tredecim-Uneatus, or Thir teen-lined 
Marmot; Gervais, Spermophile a treize lignes. The body is six inches long ; the tail, with the 
