recurved spines. The bright-red flowers are borne near the top. The pulp of bisnaga is not bitter like that of sahuaro and is used in making the cactus candy, a famous Arizona product.

Cholla is the name applied to several species of cactus, all of which are characterized by cylindrical branching stems, a bushy habit of growth, numerous spines, and prominent clusters of juicy fruit which form valuable stock food. (See Pl. XXVI, A.) Opuntia mammillata, Opuntia fuigida, and perhaps Opuntia bigelovii are the common chollas of the Papago region. These similar species grow from a single stalk 3 to 6 inches in diameter into a much branched brush 3 to 6 feet in height. In places the bushes grow so close together as to make almost impenetrable thickets. Not only are the spines numerous, but the terminal joints are easily detached, and any animal feeding on the cholla wears a fringe of these irritating joints around the muzzle. Travel through cholla thickets is most difficult and painful. At the slightest touch, the long yellow spines penetrate the flesh for an eighth to a quarter of an inch. The process of pulling off the joints and then the remaining spines is excruciating torture. The flesh is often ruptured so completely as to give the effect of a bruise. The pack rat (Neotoma albigula) drags the joints off to form a protecting barricade in front of his doorway. As the plant readily propagates from these joints, their ease of detachment and liability to transportation by animals accounts for the wide distribution of the chollas. The fruits occur in great drooping clusters of red and yellow pulpy berries, which remain attached to the plant for three or four years. After the rotting of the fruits the hard seeds drop to the ground and may lie there inactive for years. Lumholtz states that some of the cattle of western Sonora live almost exclusively on cholla in the winter, successfully ridding themselves of the spiny joints, enduring the pain of the spines, and going for periods of three months without water because of the juicy character of their food.36 Among American cattlemen such animals are known as "cholla fiends." Prickly pears (Opuntia), small ball cacti (Mammillaria), and many rarer and less conspicuous members of the cactus family are found in the region. The variety and beauty of these forms can be appreciated only by taking long rambles off the beaten tracks in the desert ranges during the spring, when the cacti are in bloom.

THE YUCCAS AND THEIR RELATIVES

The yuccas are members of the lily family adapted to dry environment. All have a cluster of narrow leaves around a center from which new leaves grow and whence rises the flowering stalk.

Lumholtz, Carl, New trails in Mexico, pp. 151-154, New York, 1912.

104211-25—5

The yucca, or Spanish bayonet, has narrow stiff leaves, triangular in cross section and tapering to a sharp, thorny point at the top. In some species the cluster of leaves rises directly from the ground; in others there is a woody trunk from 1 to 6 feet high. From the center of the cluster the flower stalk rises from 2 to 6 feet and on it are borne panicles of white waxy flowers. The yucca is not common on the plains of the Papago country except in the head of Altar Valley, where it is associated with a rather heavy grass cover.

The sotols and agaves are similar plants which are found on the rocky slopes of hills and mountains. The agaves, usually known as century plants, have broad leaves, often armed with spines along the edges. The bases of the leaves and the central stalk are fleshy, and in them is stored plant food for a period of several years. At the end of the period a flower stalk grows to a height of several feet in a few days. After flowering and fruiting, the whole plant dies. The central stalk just before flowering is considered a tender morsel by the Papagos. It is also used by the Mexicans in making the fiery liquor called mescal.

FAUNA

No study of the fauna of the Papago country was attempted in this investigation, and the following notes are intended simply to supply information to the traveler. An interesting account of the wild life of the region, and particularly of the big sheep, is Hornaday's "Camp fires on desert and lava."

The predatory animals, with the exception of the coyote, are not often seen. It seems likely that they have decreased in numbers in the last 50 years, with the decrease in game and the increase in the use of firearms by the inhabitants. In the mountains bordering Santa Cruz Valley the panther, jaguar, and Sonora grizzly were common in the early days, though now rarely reported. The wild cat or lynx has a wide distribution over the Papago country. It frequents the mountains, and, according to reports, the Papagos have within the last few years abandoned their ranchería at the spring near Squaw Tit Peak because wild cats killed all their colts.

The lobo, or timber wolf, is rare and is seen only at considerable intervals in the Tumacacori Mountains and along the Santa Cruz. His cousin, the coyote, or prairie wolf, is found over the whole region. Along the Camino del Diablo, west of Ajo, in 1917, when the region seemed deserted by every living thing and even the creosote bush was suffering from lack of water, the tracks of coyotes were present around water holes, though the animals were not seen. Between the Gunsight Hills and the Baboquivari Mountains coyotes are very numerous, and eight were shot in the course of a month's work. A specimen shot in the upper end of the Altar Valley in

November was much larger and darker than usual. It is the local opinion that the coyotes of the Tumacacori Mountains are all somewhat larger and darker than the coyotes of the valleys and drier mountains of the western portion of the Papago country. In Robles Pass five coyotes were seen running in a pack. All the others seen, however, were alone. The common habit of the coyote to travel the road and then turn off into the brush as a traveler goes by leads to many daytime encounters.

The two species of foxes which are known in the region are shy and are usually seen only at dusk or in the early morning. Both white-tailed and black-tailed deer were once more plentiful than now, their decrease being due to hunting and the occupation of their grazing lands by horses and cattle. The early military expeditions and boundary surveys depended for a large part of their meat on deer killed by professional hunters. The Papagos once hunted deer for meat and hides, but the lack of market for buckskin has led to their abandoning the hunting of deer for more profitable pursuits. Deer should now increase in number, especially in and around the drier mountain ranges. Antelope were once very plentiful. The international boundary survey of 1892-1894 found antelope in every open valley along the boundary from Nogales to Yuma. The Valley of the Ajo was a favorite haunt, and antelope have been seen along the Camino del Diablo within the last three or four years. During the present investigation the tracks of only one lone antelope were seen on the Gila Bend-Ajo road. It is presumed that the abnormally dry season had driven the others southward into Sonora.

37

Mountain sheep were once found over the whole region. They are now largely confined to the desert ranges southwest of Ajo and to the Pinacate Mountains of Sonora. The sheep as a rule inhabit inaccessible and rocky places, though they are reported to come down on the plains at times to feed on mesquite beans. Within the last 15 years sheep have been seen by local hunters on the Sierra Estrella, Childs Mountain, Growler Mountains, and Ajo Mountains. About 5 years ago a dead sheep was found in Heart Tank, in the Pinta Mountains. Sheep now frequent the Tule Mountains south of the international boundary and the Sierra de Lechuguilla. At Tinajas Altas the Survey party saw a buck and three does. Signs of sheep are very plentiful at this locality, and there are many trails where the rock is worn smooth by their feet. Rubbing places and lairs, which the sheep use during the heat of the day, are common. The finding of the bodies of two sheep in the upper tanks is referred to on page 134. Hornaday gives a very complete account of these animals. The mountain goat, however, is not * Schrader, F. C., unpublished manuscript.

now known in the region. In 1847 one was killed on the Mohawk Mountains.38

Jack rabbits and cottontails are common, except in the region west of the Growler Mountains. It is probable that these prolific animals populate this region rapidly in times of abundant rainfall. The jack rabbit is not highly esteemed for food, and, especially when in the dry season they feed largely on creosote bush, the flesh is not very palatable. Young jack rabbits killed in the spring, however, have as dainty flesh as the cottontail. The cottontail frequents the stream beds, and the traveler can usually add one or more to his larder if he hunts in the evening or in the early morning. The antelope jack rabbit 39 (Lepus alleni) is one of the most interesting of the desert animals. He is taller, more slender, and wilder than the ordinary jack rabbit. The body is gray, and the ears, very large and rounded at the top, have almost no hair, and consequently are bright shell pink with a fringe of white hairs. The running gait is a series of long high leaps at a rate compared to which that of the ordinary jack seems very slow. In running he shows a characteristic peculiar sinuous movement of the rump. The white parts of the belly and side are pulled up on the rump, first on one side and then on the other, and this habit produces the white patch to which he owes his name. The animals are usually seen in pairs, and occasionally several pairs may be seen together. The antelope rabbit is not so stupidly curious as the ordinary jack rabbit; and although interested in travelers, usually watches them from a distance of 50 to 100 yards. On the slightest alarm he takes flight, showing his white patches alternately first on one side and then on the other, often running some distance, nor will he stop for a whistle or cry, as the jack rabbit often does. The habitat of the antelope jack is the broad open spaces of the great valleys or the smaller valleys, such as the Pozo Redondo Valley. Specimens were seen as far north as the Vekol Valley and near Santa Cruz River north of Tucson. The principal range lies between the Baboquivari Mountains and Gunsight Pass. No specimens were seen west of Ajo. The antelope jack rabbit is not hunted for game by the whites. Of the several individuals killed during the investigation all had one or more large tumors under the skin and were much emaciated.

Numerous small rodents inhabit the region. Of these the pack rat or wood rat and the kangaroo rat are the most interesting to

28 Emory, W. H., Military reconnaissance from Fort Leavenworth, Mo., to San Diego, Calif., p. 92, 1848.

39 W. T. Hornaday (op. cit., p. 312) doubts the existence of these jack rabbits, but several were killed by the writer's field assistants and examined by the writer. See also Nelson, E. W., Rabbits of North America: North Am. Fauna No. 29, pp. 25, 115-117, 1909, and Bryan, Kirk, The antelope jack rabbit of Arizona: Forest and Stream, vol. 43, p. 561, 1923.

travelers. The pack rat builds a nest of rubbish in loose rocks or driftwood, or in caves in rocky places, where it is often protected from prowling animals by masses of loose cholla joints. The pack rat is a bold marauder in camps and will carry off not only provisions but cartridges, buttons, tableware, and almost anything else that is loose. He often returns with rubbish of various kinds which he leaves in place of the pilfered articles, hence one of his names is "trade rat."

The kangaroo rat lives in areas of drifting sand and is a beautiful little animal with soft fur, buff on the back and white below. He has a tail about 6 inches long with a tuft of white hair on the end. The tracks of the hind legs, with the trace of the tail between, are often seen in sandy places, making a fantastic pattern between the bushes. The animals are nocturnal in habit and rather shy. East of Wellton one night several came into camp, which was lighted by a large fire. In spite of being shot at several times they persisted in coming back, and one was finally caught in the hand. The fore limbs are much smaller than the hind limbs but are doubtless used more in walking than one would judge by the tracks. Certainly these individuals, when investigating the Survey camp, went on all fours.

The buzzard and the raven are the most common of the larger birds. The buzzard is more likely to be seen in the Santa Cruz and Gila valleys, but the raven was seen in the most desolate places. Several species of owls are known, but all are more common in the mountains than in the plains. Several species of hawks were seen but not identified. Hornaday reports the golden eagle. The picturesque "road runner" inhabits the region but is not common.

The commonest game bird of the region is Gambel's quail, by far the most beautiful of the quails. These birds roost in bunches of 10 to 50 in the trees along the arroyos, and their cheerful clucking, very like that of barnyard fowl, is often the first thing to wake the traveler in the morning. They are difficult to flush, usually preferring to run and hide. As they run faster than a man can walk, and as the creosote and other bushes are usually waist high, it is difficult to get large bags from single coveys. The best hunting season is in the fall in the vicinity of Papago temporales, where the quail congregate to feed on the residue of the crop and seeds of the pigweed.40 The blue or valley quail and the white-top or mountain quail are occasionally found in the area.

The turtledove is found outside of the Santa Cruz and Gila valleys only in the neighborhood of permanent water. They come in to water at dusk, when they are easily killed. The traveler should

40 Hornaday, W. T., op. cit., pp. 318-320. An interesting account of hunting these birds.