19^1] Taijlor: Mammals of the 1909 Nevada Expedition. 227 



alhicaulis), among rocks and on rocky ridges, in a willow tree, 

 in quaking aspens, and in chinquapin thickets. They are evi- 

 dently early risers, and remain up until daylight wanes ; for we 

 found freshly-caught animals in our traps a little after five 

 o'clock in the morning, and one was seen late in the evening on a 

 log near our camp at the head of Big Creek. The chipmunks of 

 the mountains are not nearly so shy and silent as those of the 

 flat. Near the Duffer Peak meadow, elevation 8400 feet, chip- 

 numks were extremely numerous, and far from war.y. Compared 

 with Eiitamias speciosus (a species common in the mountains of 

 southern California), they are not as noisy. They jump about 

 upon the rocks, which appear to be their favorite situation, with 

 the utmost agility, and I saw one run up the almost perpendicu- 

 lar face of a large stone. They have a very pretty way of waving 

 their tails back and forth as they sit perched upon some con- 

 venient boulder. In actions they closely resemble speciosus. One 

 seen in a white-bark pine jumped easily from branch to branch 

 and finally to a pile of large boulders, disappearing therein. If 

 one makes a squeaking sound with the lips they will often be 

 induced to break forth into a series of characteristic chatterings, 

 although they sometimes answer with a single call-note. The 

 chipmunks are very curious, and one can generally, by squeaking, 

 coax an animal from his hiding place. 



On the meadow near Duffer Peak we heard the chipmunks 

 utter a singular note which we took at first for that of a bird. It 

 closely resembles the call-note of a thrush (Hylocichla guttata), 

 and the chipmunk accompanies this utterance by a jerk of the 

 tail. 



They were observed feeding upon seeds, leaves of various 

 plants, and pieces of toadstool or other fungi. In eating they sit 

 bolt upright and hold the morsel between the forepaws in a 

 typically squirrel-like manner. 



A number were caught in chinquapin thickets high on the 

 mountain sides. Several were obtained on the highest point of 

 the range. Duffer Peak (altitude 9400 feet) where they were not 

 uncommon. One was seen on July 23 running across a snowbank. 



