cabin which had been unoccupied all winter, and were found under the 

 floor, but not at a nest. Another rat industriously carried chips from a 

 wood pile into a blacksmith shop and dropped them into a barrel standing 



No. 8. Bailey's Wood-rat, female with two young. 

 Photograph by Herman W. Nash. 



(here. The surroundings of the nests always appear decidedly untidy 

 because of the rubbish piles and the dung of the owners scattered about, 

 though it is said that the nests themselves are always clean and tidy. 



All the species are usually nocturnal, but they may occasionally be 

 seen in the daytime. Their food is mainly of a vegetable nature, though 

 they will occasionally eat flesh. All sorts of fruits, seeds, berries and 

 nuts are eaten, and no doubt such insects as may be captured are de- 

 voured. 



I think but one litter of young in a season is the rule for our species. 

 The offspring are born late in the spring or early summer, and are from 

 three to six in number. 



Our smallest species, the Desert Wood Rat, has a total length of 11.25 

 inches, of which the tail occupies 4.8 inches, while the largest species, the 

 Mountain Rat, is 15 inches or more in total length, with the tail 6.3 

 inches. 1 have measured specimens which were 18 inches over all, but 

 these were unusually large. 



The names of those of our Wood Rats included in the Round-tailed 

 Group are as follows: Bailey's Wood Rat, Neotoma floridana baileyi; 

 Baird's Wood Rat, N. micropus micropus; Hoary Wood Rat, N. m. canes- 

 cens; Warren's White-throated Wood Rat, N. albigula warreni; Gale's or 

 the Colorado Wood Rat, N. Mexicana fallax; and the Desert Wood Rat, 

 N. desertorum. The Bushy-tailed Group includes: the Mountain Rat or 

 Colorado Bushy-tailed Wood Rat, X. cinerea orolestes; the Arizona Wood 

 Rat, N. c. arizona?; the Cinnamon Wood Rat, N. c. cimiamomoa; and the 

 Pallid Wood Rat, X. c. rupfcola. 



Of our various species the Mountain Rat is perhaps the most widely 

 distributed. Beginning with the upper foothills of the Front and Pikes 

 Peak Ranges it extends westward through the mountains, and even down 



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