1936] 



MAMMALS OF OREGON 



113 



General characters. This little short-eared, short-legged, almost tailless 

 animal is very similar to Ochotona schisticeps from the northern Sierra 

 Nevada but darker colored. Summer fur, upper parts dark buffy gray, much 

 darkened over back by black-tipped hairs; top of head and face clear dark 

 gray; lower parts buffy or cinnamon; back of ears and soles of hind feet 

 dusky or black; edges of ears and top of feet buffy. Half -grown young simi- 

 lar to adults. Winter fur unknown. 



Measurements. Total length, 180 mm; hind foot, 27; ear (dry), inside 18. 



Distribution and habitat. These dark-colored little rock conies 

 go with the dark-colored lava fields of southeastern Oregon and 

 northeastern California. There are specimens from the type locality, 

 Madeline Plains, and Sugarloaf Mountain in northeastern Cali- 

 fornia, and in Oregon from the northern end of the Warner Moun- 

 tains, Adel, Jack Lake (20 miles northeast of Adel), Fort Warner 

 Creek, Guano Valley, and 

 the northern end of the 

 Steens Mountains. Oth- 

 ers reported from west 

 of Lower Klamath Lake, 

 Drews Creek, and the 

 lava beds near the head 

 of the Owyhee River are 

 undoubtedly of the same 

 form (fig. 18). While at 

 present they seem to be 

 scattered and of irregular 

 occurrence, their distribu- 

 tion probably is far more 

 continuous and connected 

 than we now realize, as 

 their vertical range 

 reaches from 5,000 to 9,000 

 feet, and they seem to occur wherever there is suitable cover and 

 extent of slide rock, or broken talus. 



General habits. While in no way related to the conies of the 

 Bible, these animals are a " feeble folk " and make their homes in 

 the rocks. Otherwise, they would be eaten up by a host of hungry 

 enemies. Neither cold nor hot weather has terrors for them, for 

 deep in their rocky caverns they can keep cool in the hottest season, 

 and buried under the deep snows of winter they are comfortable and 

 safe even above timber line. On fur-cushioned feet they scamper 

 over the roughest rocks, silent and surefooted, alert and keen of 

 sight and hearing, and quick to dive below at the first sign of 

 danger. 



In a way they are social animals, working either together or inde- 

 pendently, but always keeping track of each other by occasional 

 calls and warning each other of danger. Their regular note is a 

 nasal squeak, well described as like the bleating of a young lamb, a 

 slow eamp, eamp, repeated at varying intervals and with a force 

 and energy expressive of inquiry, alarm, or excitement. Usually the 

 call is made from the top of a rock or the doorway of a cavern 

 between rocks, but sometimes it is faintly heard from deep below 



7209 36 8 



FIGURE 18. Range of four forms of conies in Oregon : 

 1, Ochotona schisticeps taylori; 2, O. 8. jewetti; 

 3, O. princeps brunnescens ; 4, 0. fenisea fumosa. 

 Type localities circled. 



