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PRAIRIE DOG. 
well-being of the animal whose hospitality he shares.” This idea is 
doubtless incorrect, and we would almost hazard the assertion that these 
owls prey upon the young, or even the adults, of these marmots ; they 
also, probably, devour the bodies of those which die in their holes, and 
thus may stand toward the animals in the light of sexton and undertaker 
Mr. Kendall is entirely correct in what he saj-s about the rattle-snakes, 
which dwell in the same lodges with the Dogs. “ The snakes I look upon 
as loafers, not easily shaken off by the regular inhabitants, and they make 
use of the dwellings of the Dogs as more comfortable quarter.s than they 
can find elsewhere. We killed one a short distance from a burrow, which 
had made a meal of a half-grown Dog ; and although I do not think they 
can master the larger animals, the latter are still compelled to let them 
pass in and out without molestation — a nuisance, like many in more ele- 
vated society, that cannot be got rid of.” 
Mr. Kendall and his companions found the meat of this species “ ex- 
ceedingly sweet, tender, and juicy — resembling that of the squirrel, only 
that it was much fatter.” 
None of these animals were seen by J. W. Audubon in his journey 
through that part of Texas lying between Galveston and San Antonio, and 
he only heard of one village, to the northward and we.stn ai'd of Torrey’s 
Lodge ; they do not approach the coast apparently, being found only on 
the prairies beyond, or to the westward of the wooded portions of that 
State. A collector of animals and bird.s, who has passed the last three 
years in various parts of Mexico, and who showed us his whole col- 
lection, had none of these marmots, and we suppose their range does not 
extend as far south as the middle portions of that country. 
GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
This species is found on the banks of the Missouri and its tributaries. 
It also exists near the Platte river in great abundance. It was seen by 
■T. W. Audubon in limited numbers in Sonora and on the sandy hills ad- 
joining the Tulare Valley, and in other parts of California. We do not 
know whether it is an inhabitant of Oregon or not. 
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