THE FAUNA OF MONTANA TERRITORY. 531 
















have never seen them quite beyond the range of coniferous 
trees, I suppose that the smaller, gray or faded, variety in- 
habiting the extreme edge of the woods, owes its distinction 
_ to the influence of more sunlight and heat, combined with 
inferior food. It is like the half-starved population of an 
 over-crowded region, barely subsisting on what can be picked 
- up on the border of the desert; for, though other rodents 
_ thrive on the grass, seeds, etc., of the plains, the Chipmunks 
- evidently require nuts. I have seen them ascend pines one 
_ hundred and fifty feet, where they extract the seeds from the 
"cones and carry them off in their cheeks, instead of cutting 
off the cones like the true squirrels. 
_ Variations in color, connected with exposure to the sun 
and heat, are noticed also in T. Townsendii and T. striatus, 
as well as in other animals, so that much allowance must be 
made for such influences in the determination of species. 
The variety found by ‘me in 1863, at the Clickatat Pass, 
| Cascade Mountains, 4,500 feet above the sea, and at first 
_ hamed T. Cooperii by Professor Baird, is so nearly inter- 
mediate between the form found on the west ( T. Townsendii) 
2 and that east of those mountains (T. quadrivittatus), as to 
= Sliggest a doubt of their distinctness, and at least a suspicion 
_ Ëa hybrid race. (P. R.R. Mammals, VII, 302.) 
_ Richarpson’s SPERMOPHILE (Spermophilus Richardsoni)? 
< On the bare plains between Fort Benton.and Sun river, I 
Saw a few specimens of what I supposed to be this animal, 
and its burrows were numerous in a few spots where the soil 
_ Was rich, soft, and rather moist. Like other species in 
-Indian countries, it was so very shy that I did not succeed 
in killing one, but one seen quite near, when I had no gun, 
agreed in size, color, ears, etc., with the description of the 
above species, originally found north of Fort Benton. 
As every species of this numerous genus I have met with 
(eight in all) has different habits, even in its mode of burrow- 
ing, I may remark that this species prefers soft ground, car- 
Nes out little earth to the surface, and has several entrances 
Sa Sas 
hs as ems 
ae aera 
Sats 

