vot. Iv.] Motes on a Collection of Mammats. 327 
mammals of the high Sierras, sharing that distinction with the 
marmot, Arctomys flaviventer, and the gilded chipmunk already 
mentioned. It was especially abundant in colonies of half a 
hundred or more in the grassy valley at Summit Station. Other 
colonies were seen about Mt. Tallac and Pyramid Peak, always 
on grassy flats and gentle hillslopes. 
They are short, thick-set little rodents and have a peculiar 
loping gait. They have the habit of sitting up on their haunches 
when alarmed, shared by other members of the genus. This habit 
has given them the local names of ‘‘ picket-pins,’’ ‘‘ prairie dogs,” 
and ‘‘ woodchucks,” though the latter name is more generally 
applied to the marmot. They often wander some distance away 
from their burrows. I have seen a grassy meadow covered with 
them feeding on grass seeds; when alarmed the whole company 
would rush loping to their homes. Several shot at Summit Valley 
had their cheek-pouches distended with the green seeds. 
A series of fifteen skins shows little color variation, and that 
confined to the dorsal stripe and the fulvous wash of the under- 
parts. Some young specimens, a week or two old, taken July 21 
Mt. Tallac, is paler in color, the crown patch and dorsal stripe 
are faint, and the under parts are bluish gray, the color extending 
up on the sides. 
9. Spermophilus grammurus beecheyi (Rich.) California 
Ground Squirrel. 
A single specimen was taken near Red Point. Ground squir- 
rels are common in the Sierra Nevada up to nearly 6000 feet. 
Higher than that they give place to the marmot, and the smaller 
spermophiles, Spermophilus belding?. ‘They frequent rocky hill- 
sides, and though common they are shy and not nearly so con- 
spicuous as in the valleys of California. 
10. Sciurus hudsonius californicus Allen. California Chick- 
aree. 
Only three specimens were taken, two at Red Point on July 
6 and one at Summit Station July 30. Several others were seen; 
one along a road beside Lake Tahoe, appeared to be in the black 
stage. My companion remarked: ‘‘ That’s the first d/ack squir- 
