voL. Iv.] Motes on a Collection of Mammals. 327 
and refuse. Higher up on the mountain they were exceedingly 
abundant. On bright days a dozen or more could often be seen 
at once playing about logs and rock piles. ‘They feed largely on 
grass and seeds; and down to certain meadows they had well- 
beaten trails leading from their homes in rock-ledges. I fre- 
quently found their burrows under stumps and the roots of trees. 
Judging from the number of entrances and the amount of 
excrement, several individuals occupied each den, and from 
appearances the dens had been inhabited many years. 
The flesh of the marmot furnishes food to a large number of 
Nevada Indians who come up into the mountains for the sum- 
mer months. They usually hunt with shotguns loaded with 
heavy shot, and catch the animals away from their dens by 
lying quietly closeto them. During August the reports of guns 
on the higher parts of the mountain were continually heard, 
and an Indian has been known to secure two dozen in the course 
of the day. The flesh is said to be excellent eating and forms a 
delicacy at some of the resorts about Lake Tahoe. 
22. Spermophilus leucurus Merr. Antelope Squirrel. 
This animal was seen only in the sandy, sage-covered plains 
east of the Carson Valley, Nevada. 
23. Spermophilus grammurus Say. Ground Squirrel. 
Three or four individuals supposed to be of this species were 
seen along the base of the mountains west of the Carson Valley. 
They had burrows in the rocky hillside and allowed me to 
approach on horseback quite close to them. 
24. Scturus fossor Peale. California Gray Squirrel. 
This species is common in the sugar and yellow pine belt 
along the west slope of the Sierras. It was seen on the Forest 
Hill Divide from about 2500 feet up to 5500. North of the 
North Fork of the American River, in the neighborhood of Blue 
Cafion, a few were noticed, but none were above the altitude of 
the sugar pine belt. In the neighborhood of Red Point they 
were generally distributed through the timber; their barking 
was frejuently heard. Their chief food is the seeds of the 
sugar pine, Pinus Lambertiana, the largest and most beautiful 
pine in the Sierra Nevada. Under almost every tree are chips 
