162 NORTH AMERICAN FAUNA [No. 55 



Near Juntura, Sheldon saw one in a meadow near the river, where 

 it had evidently come down from the hills half a mile distant to 

 get green plants and grasses during the dry season in July. Gen- 

 erally, however, they are found only in the proximity of rocks, from 

 which they make quick journeys to the nearest grass patches for 

 food, or sometimes to fields and gardens that have been planted close 

 to the rocks. 



At Elgin, in May, they were found feeding on green vegetation, 

 unripe seeds, and to a great extent on the yellow flowers of a wild 

 parsnip. In the Cascades, near Three Sisters, in July, they were 

 feeding on green vegetation, including the leaves of elderberry bushes 

 and squawgrass (Xerophyllum tenaa). 



Along the Owyhee and Jordan Rivers the writer found these 

 woodchucks common wherever the cliffs and broken masses of lava 

 rock afforded shelter and protection. Generally they were seen sit- 

 ting on the rocks overlooking the valleys, but some were surprised 

 in the meadows and alfalfa fields along the road. These always 

 rushed to the nearest rocks for protection, and it was noticeable that 

 no burrows were found in the open ground where badgers could 

 easily dig out the occupants. Among the rocks the woodchucks could 

 penetrate into narrow cavities where the badgers could not get them, 

 but even then they were not safe from other enemies. Eagles and 

 large hawks hunt them from above, and it is a wonder that any 

 remain. 



Along Cocomungo Creek, at the northern base of the Steens Moun- 

 tains, many jaws and bones of young and half -grown woodchucks 

 were found under the old nests of Swainson and red-tailed hawks 

 and the nests of the great horned owl. The canyon was perfectly 

 adapted to the needs of woodchucks ; but they were scarce, evidently 

 due to the numbers of their enemies. 



One old male woodchuck, shot among the rocks on Jordan Creek, 

 July 3, 1927, was moderately fat, and its stomach was well filled 

 with green vegetation from the meadow below. Besides the green 

 food, the skins of 55 large caterpillars were counted. They were 

 freshly eaten and the skins, generally complete, were of black and 

 yellow larvae about 1% inches long and a quarter of an inch in 

 diameter with a hornlike appendage at one end. Specimens saved 

 and identified by Dr. Dyar of the Bureau of Entomology proved 

 to be the larvae of the sphynx moth, Deilephila lineata Fab. Ap- 

 parently a quarter of the stomach contents consisted of bodies and 

 food of these large caterpillars. 



On July 28 Preble caught a marmot at a burrow in the Cedar 

 Mountains after all had been in hibernation for some time. It had 

 evidently come out to get one more good meal as its stomach was en- 

 tirely empty. On October 12, at Cord, near the head of Malheur 

 River, Sheldon found one that a badger had just dug out of its bur- 

 row, where it had evidently been hiberating for some time. The 

 stomach was empty except for the natural juices. A half inch of fat 

 covered the body under the skin, and the intestines were almost 

 invisible under the dense layers of fat surrounding them. 



Economic status. In a few localities these marmots prove trouble- 

 some in fields and gardens near extensive rock masses where they 

 live, but in most cases their mischief is easily controlled by shooting 



