VOL. IV.] Notes 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 close to 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 I^ake Tahoe. 



22. Spennophilus leucuriis Merr. Antelope Squirrel, 



This animal was seen only in the sandy, sage-covered plains 

 east of the Carson Valley, Nevada. 



23. Spcrmophilus grammurus S2iy. 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. Sciurus 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 

 Canon, 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 frequently heard. Their chief food is the seeds of the 

 sugar pine, Pinus Lajubcrtiana, the largest and most beautiful 

 pine in the Sierra Nevada. Under almost every tree are chips 



