320 Notes on a Collection of M annuals. [zoe 



from trees, but it was particularly abundant in brush heaps, old 

 lumber piles, and was common on fences. The two specimens 

 taken on August 9 were caught in a cavity between a fence- 

 board and post. They were male and female, adults, and in 

 excellent breeding pelage. 



7. Spermophilus chrysodeirus Merr. Gilded Chipmunk. 

 Animals of this species seemed abundant above 6000 



feet on the west slope of the Sierra and at a lower altitude on the 

 eastern slope. They were first seen on a rocky hillside near 

 Cisco, a station on the Central Pacific Railroad below Summit 

 Station. Afterwards they were found commonly at Summit 

 Station, along^the Truckee River, on Mt. Tallac, and on a spur 

 of the Sierra, skirting the east shore of Lake Tahoe and sloping 

 down to the^ Carson Valley. They prefer open hillsides thinly 

 grown with pines and most frequently make their burrows 

 beneath rock piles and ledges. They seem to be entirely terrestrial. 

 I did not see one on trees and bushes. They feed on various 

 grasses and flower-seeds and probably also on the seeds of the 

 fir and pine. 



Twenty specimens show a large amount of seasonal and 

 individual variation. No one feature appears to be constant. 

 The dorsal stripes vary in length, breadth, and intensity of color. 

 In six specimens onlj^ can the white stripes be traced as far as 

 the base of the tail; they also extend forward and blend into the 

 golden yellow of the shoulders and post-auricular patches. In 

 one specimen. No. 72, a female, the post-auricular patches are 

 nearly white, and others show a complete gradation to the rich 

 golden brown of the most highly colored specimens. The shoulders 

 vary in color from a tawny iron-gray to the deepest orange. The 

 color of the central area of the under side of the tail varies from 

 pale orange to deep chestnut, and the tips of the fringing hairs 

 from silvery gray to ochreous. A young specimen about two- 

 thirds grown, taken August 6 on Mt. Tallac, is not so bright as 

 the adults. In it a leaden gray suffuses the lower parts and 

 extends well up on the sides, while the crown-patch, shoulders, 

 and post-auricular regions are only softly tinged with ochreous. 



8. Spermophilus beldingi Merr. Belding's Spermophile. 

 This short-tailed spermophile is one of the most conspicuous 



