184 ANIMAL LIFE IN THE YO SEMITE 



whitish spot behind the base of each ear. The habits of the two, so far 

 as we know them at present, are alike, save perhaps that the species now 

 under discussion is the more closely confined to the ground, low brush, 

 and prostrate logs. At the upper edge of the Canadian Zone the Allen 

 Chipmunk in a few places meets the small, pale-colored, rock-dwelling 

 Alpine Chipmunk, from which it differs so greatly as to be easily dis- 

 tinguished. At no station visited by our party were the Allen and 

 Mariposa chipmunks found near each other. An interval of a thousand 

 feet or more of altitude ordinarily separates the ranges of these two 

 species, which are of similar size and much alike in general markings. 

 They may thus be identified most conveniently, perhaps, on the basis of 

 the altitude of their occurrence. 



One rather notable departure in range for the Allen Chipmunk was 

 shown by the capture of an individual at Lady Franklin Rock (altitude 

 4600 feet) in the gorge of the Merced just below Vernal Falls. We rather 

 expected to find the Long-eared Chipmunk there, but instead the one 

 animal taken turned out to be an Allen Chipmunk. The spot named is 

 an attractive picnic place for leisurely inclined tourists from the Valley 

 and a way station for hikers en route to or from Glacier Point or the Little 

 Yosemite, and the chipmunks (for there are usually two or more about) 

 profit by the crumbs and scraps of lunch dropped there or intentionally 

 thrown out to attract the animals to close view. 



The few facts at hand regarding the breeding season of this species 

 indicate that it begins in May or perhaps even earlier. A female captured 

 near Tamarack Flat, May 26, 1919, contained 4 embryos, another captured 

 near the upper Yosemite Creek on June 4, 1915, contained 5 embryos, and 

 one taken near Porcupine Flat, June 27, 1915, contained 2 embryos. 

 Several individuals obtained in Indian Caiion between June 20 and 25, 

 1915, gave indication of having recently suckled young. The young 

 probably appear abroad in early July. A young-of-the-year taken near 

 Merced Lake on August 25, 1915, was already over three-fourths grown. 



In the Canadian Zone woods one may find many of the vantage places 

 to which these chipmunks have repaired when shucking out seeds. One 

 such place was seen near Tamarack Flat. It was on the top of a mass of 

 granite which stood up in rather solitary fashion overlooking much brushy 

 territory. A chipmunk had been seen at the place and upon our climbing 

 to the spot we found some shells from seeds and scales from pine cones. 

 There is never so large an accumulation as that which constitutes the 

 'kitchen middens' of a Red Squirrel, probably because in many instances 

 the chipmunk is apt to carry seeds about in its cheek pouches and shuck 

 them out here or there wherever opportunity offers, instead of resorting 

 to one fixed shelling station. 



