322 Notes on a Collection of Mammals. [ZOE 
rel I’ve seen in California.” At another time a pair came close 
into camp high up on Mt. Tallac and fearlessly picked up some | 
bits of bread. This species ranges higher in the mountains than 
Sciurus fossor, appearing to inhabit the Sierra from about 2500 
feet up to 9500, or as faras timber extends. ,It delights in heavily 
wooded slopes filled with dense undergrowth. Its loud chatter- 
ing call notes were commonly heard about Red Point, though 
always in almost impenetrable places. 
The three specimens present no marked variation. The black 
lateral stripe separating the gray of the dorsal region from the 
white of the under parts is conspicuous in each, and the bright 
orange on the upper surface of the feet is also present. They are 
each in transition pelage, patches of new hair lying side by side 
with the old 
11. Sciuropterus volucella hudsonica (Gmelin). Northern 
Flying Squirrel. 
A single caged specimen was given to me at Red Point. 
This was the only one seen though I was told they had been 
very numerous there the winter previous. They frequented a 
feed stable and barn, and became very troublesome, gnawing 
into sacks and destroying the grain. Many were caught in box 
traps but they continued to increase until some cats were placed 
in the barn, which routed them. Some time after, when sweep- 
ing out the place, two dozen squirrels’ tails were picked up. 
The winter was a severe one, and plenty of food at the barn had 
called them from a long distance. I was told by woodcutters 
that sometimes in felling a tree, especially if the top was 
broken and bushy, some of these little animals would soar down 
from the top just before it fell and alight on another tree, run- 
ning up quickly to the higher branches. During forest fires, 
which often sweep over the mountains, the flying squirrel with 
other animals as rare are sometimes seen. In traveling through 
the mountains I have asked many people about this interesting 
little rodent, but only a very few had ever seen it and many ha 
never heard of it at all. Its nocturnal habits, of course, make 
it seem rare, but judging from the numbers found in the barn at 
Red Point it surely must be much more common than it is 
supposed to be. 
