116 CALIFORNIA MAMMALS. 



Pacific coast region of central California from Monterey 

 County north to Lake County. Dusky-footed Brush-Rats in- 

 habit the chemisal and the underbrush in open forests and groves, 

 larely being found in thick forests. This form does not appear 

 to occur high in the mountains, seldom up to 3,000 feet altitude. 

 The food is principally vegetable but it is quite varied. They 

 have the usual generic propensity for carrying ofif small articles. 



The breeding season is March to June, perhaps later. The 

 number of young in a litter is two to four. The home is usually in 

 a "nest" or "house" of sticks, twigs, bones, or anything portable; 

 these piles of rubbish being two to four feet high, roughly cone 

 shaped, and are usually placed in a thicket of brush, sometimes 

 against a tree. 



Occasionally the Brush-Rats take up their residence in barns 

 or other buildings where they do the most harm by carrying off 

 small articles, stored vegetables, dried fruit, grain or anything 

 they can carry ofif, even if utterly useless to them except to swell 

 their rubbish pile. They seldom gnaw anything, however. They 

 leave the premises immediately on the arrival of the introduced 

 species of rat, which is a greater nuisance. 



Neotoma fuscipes monochroura Rhoads. (One-color — 



tail.) 



NORTHERN DUSKY-FOOTED BRUSH-RAT. 



Similar to fuscipes; darker above; hairs of belly white to 

 roots; skull flatter; molar tooth row shorter. 



Type locality. Grant Pass, Josephine County, Oregon. 



Pacific coast region from Mendocino County, California 

 north to mouth of the Columbia River, east to base of Mount 

 Shasta. 



Neotoma fuscipes marcotis Thomas. (Large — ear.) 



SOUTHERN BRUSH RAT. 



Similar to fuscipes; grayer, with less fulvous on the sides ; 



