122 ZOOLOGY. 



7PTER0MYS OREGONENSIS, Bach. 



Oregon Flyiug Sqairrel. 



Baibd, Gen. Eep., Mammals, 1857, p. 290 ; al8o chap. 1, p. 80. 



I have heard of several flying squirrels that have been found in the Puget Sound region. 

 One was kept alive for some time as a pet in a family residing on the Nisqually river. 



Mr. Packwood, one of the oldest and most reliable settlers on Puget Sound, informed me that 

 the animal there found is much larger than that of the Atlantic States; approaching much more 

 the size of an ordinary gray squirrel. — S. 



TAMIAS TOWNSENDII, Bach. 



Townsend's Striped .Squirrel; Western Chipmonk. 



[For Sp. Ch. and Bynonomy see chap. 2, p. 97, or Baird's Gen. Kep., Mam , 1857, p 300.] 



This squirrel is exceedingly abundant in the Cascade mountains and in the forest regions of 

 Puget Sound and the lower Columbia. In habits it closely resembles its near relative the 

 T. quadrivittatus, as well as the common "chipmonk" of the Atlantic. Like these species, it 

 probably spends the cold season in torpor. — S. 



Note. — T. quadrivittatus, Saj', chap. 2, p. 97. This species is to be looked for on the eastern 

 slopes of the Cascade mountains, in "Washington Territory, as it occurs near Klamath lake, and 

 in the Blue mountains of Oregon. Dr. Cooper thinks that the differences noticed on page 81, 

 chap. 1, in their cries, may indicate that those seen by him near the Yakima river were, in 

 part, at least, of this spcies. 



SPERMOPHILUS BEECHEYI, Rich. 



California Ground Squirrel. 



Baikd, Gen. Kep , Mammals, 1857, 307 ; also chap 1, p. 81. 



I saw the California ground squirrel in the valley of Clear Lake — a large sheet of water 

 between Russian river and the Sacramento — and afterwards I saw them in immense numbers 

 on the Salmon, a branch of Klamath river. They inhabit the "foot-hills" which extend down 

 to the terraces, or, as they are called, "high bars," on the river, Avhich are everywhere marked 

 by their trails leading to water, which are beaten as plainly as those of deer. They are in 

 body about the size of the gray squirrel, but shorter, their fore legs being very short. — General 

 color mottled gray, with a hlac^ patch, or broad stripe, between the shoulders. 



They are inveterate thieves, impudently entering the huts and tents of the miners to steal 

 flour, bread, rice, &c. I have had large cakes of baked bread carried, or more probably rolled 

 by them from one end of my cabin to the other. To make amends, they are delicious eating; 

 the flesh, very white and tender, resembles more nearly frogs' legs than anything else to which 

 I can compare it. In autumn they are fat enough to fry in their own grease. I have heard 

 that they extend as far north as the Willamette valley, but I never saw them there myself. 

 Their tails, like those of the white-footed rat, (Neotoma occidentalis,) are sparsely covered with 

 hair. — G. 



SPERMOPHILUS DOUGLASSII, Cuvier. 



Columbia Ground Squirrel. 



[See chap. 2, p. 93 ] 



The Columbia "ground squirrel" is found very numerous on the open plains and the scrub 



oak foot-hills, at the eastern bases of the Cascade mountains. Near Fort Dalles they are very 



