OCHOTONID^ 



181 



Ochotona schisticeps Merriam. (Slate colored — head.) 



SIERRA NEVADA PIKA. 



Form thickset ; no visible external tail, the short caudal series 

 of vertebrae being folded back and lying wholly within the skin ; 

 ears prominent, broad, rounded, edged with white; whiskers very 

 long; color of pelage variable with locality, from brownish gray 

 mixed with black above and grayish vinaceous cinnamon below, 

 to buffy white mixed witli blackish on the back, the basal half of 

 all the hairs being slaty black in both cases. 



Sierra Nevada Pika. About half life size. 



Length about 185 mm. ( 7.25 inches) ; tail vertebrje 13 ( .50) ; 

 hind foot 29 (1.15) ; ear from crown 17 (.67). 



Type locality, Donner, Nevada County, California. 



The habitat of the Sierra Nevada Pika is the higher moun- 

 tains of California and northward. It has been found in various 

 places in the Sierra Nevada, White Mountains, Mount 'Lassen, 

 Mount Shasta and in the Warner Mountains. Probably it oc- 

 curs in various other high mountains of California. Many years 

 ago Prof. Gabb reported it from^ northern Lower California, but 

 no one has found it there since. 



