226 ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEOTOMA. 



cMevous animal, destroying every thing which comes in its way — papers, 

 books, goods, &c. It has been known not unfrequently to eat entirely 

 through the middle of a bale of blankets, rendering the whole utterly 

 useless ; and like a pet crow carries away every thing it can lay its hands 

 on. Even candle-sticks, porter-bottles, and large iron axes, being some- 

 times found in its burrows." 



The food of this species consists of seeds and herbage of various kinds ; 

 it devours also the small twigs and leaves of pine trees, and generally 

 has a considerable store of these laid up in the vicinity of its residence. 



It is said by Dkummond to make its nest in the crevices of high rocks. 

 The nest is large, and is composed of sticks, leaves, and grasses. The 

 abode of this Rat may be discovered by the excrement of the animal, 

 which has the colour and consistence of tar, and is always deposited in 

 the vicinity. It is stated by those who have had had the opportunity of 

 observing, that this species produces from three to five young at a time. 



GEOGRAPHICAl. DISTEIBUTION. 



We were informed by a gentleman who was formerly engaged as a 

 clerk in the service of the Missouri fur company, that this Rat exists in the 

 valleys, and along the sides, of the Rocky Mountains, through an extent 

 of thirty degrees of latitude. Douglass states that it is very numerous 

 near the Mackenzie and Peace rivers, latitude 69°. Townsend found it 

 in Oregon. We have seen a specimen that was said to have been ob- 

 tained in the Northern mountains of Texas, and have heard of its exist- 

 ence in North California. 



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