CHIPMUNKS 195 



Lake they ranged down from the nearby brush and rocks to the border 

 of a meadow and were seen under the willows there pulling down the 

 grass heads and gathering the ripening seeds. Elsewhere they ranged 

 out under the sagebushes, sharing this sort of cover with the Sagebrush 

 Chipmunk. 



Sagebrush Chipmunk. Eutamias pictus (Allen) 



Field characters. — Size small (head and body 4 inches, tail about 3 inches long). 

 (For comparative measurements see footnote 15, p. 177.) Usual chipmunk pattern of 

 markings; general tone of coloration pale, grayish. (See pi. 3a.) Stripes on back dark 

 brown and white, more highly contrasted than in Alpine Chipmunk; size somewhat 

 smaller, tail shorter, and sides of body less deeply brownish than in Mono Chipmunk. 

 Voice: A high-pitched tsew ; also a rapid series of c/iip-ing notes. 



Occurrence. — Abundant in Transition Zone east of Sierra Nevada, from Williams 

 Butte eastward all around Mono Lake. Altitude ranging from 6400 to 8000 feet. 

 Restricted to sagebrush association where it runs on ground or climbs up into the 

 bushes. 



The Sagebrush Chipmunk is to be looked for in the extensive tracts 

 of sagebrush which cover the floor of the elevated inland desert surrounding 

 Mono Lake. The prevailing gray tone of the region has been impressed 

 on the chipmunk's pelage, though not to the degree shown in certain birds 

 of the region. (See pi. 3o.) Yet the alternating stripes of dark brown 

 and ashy white on the back are well contrasted. The species name pictus, 

 meaning painted, seems highly appropriate, for the coloring looks as if 

 it had been applied by lengthwise strokes of a brush. 



No one need have special difficulty in identifying the Sagebrush Chip- 

 munk in the Yosemite region, for it here keeps almost entirely to the one 

 sort of shelter, namely, pure growths of the sagebrush, and it is the only 

 species of chipmunk ordinarily found there. Along the line of contact 

 where the sagebrush and mountain mahogany meet, the Sagebrush and 

 Mono chipmunks may at times occur together. There is no certain way 

 of distinguishing these two out of hand. A larger, heavier, and more 

 brownish colored animal which keeps to the heavier chaparral and vicinity 

 of trees is likely to be monoensis, while a smallish gray-toned individual 

 w^hich runs on the ground beneath the bushes is probably pictus. 



In size and general habits the Sagebrush Chipmunk is most like the 

 Alpine Chipmunk. It is an active animal, running about on the ground 

 a great deal, and carrying its tail up in a prominent manner, nearly or 

 quite perpendicular to the back, as it goes. Sometimes several of these 

 animals will play about a brush patch, as many as six having been noted 

 together on one occasion. Now and then one individual will give chase 

 to another and a long continued pursuit will follow. Although giving voice 

 to the usual calls of chipmunks when occasion demands, this species is, as 



