ii6 
The Mammals of Colorado 
was taken by Gary in 1906. As it is an inhabitant of the Sonoran 
Zone it probably does not range very far into our State. 
Habits. — We have no special information as to the habits of 
this species in this State. Stephens says that in CaHfornia it 
makes its nests both among rocks and about cactus and yucca 
plants. He says that it breeds in March and April, and 
that the young are from three to five in number. 
Neotoma cinerea orolestes (Lat. cinereus, ashy; Grk., oros, 
mountain, + lestes, thief, robber). Mountain Rat. 
Neotoma orolestes Merriam, Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash., ix., p. 128 
(1894). 
Type locality. — Twenty miles west of Saguache, Saguache Co., 
Colo. (J. A. Loring). 
Measurements. — Total length, 15.0 ; tail vert., 6.3 ; hind foot, 1.75. 
Description. — (From a specimen taken at Irwin, Gunnison County, 
Oct. 2ist): Above buffy ochraceous lined with black; top of head 
grayer; feet and entire under parts white ; the upper side of the full 
bushy tail is gray, from a mixture of blackish and white hairs, and 
the basal third is somewhat ochraceous. The under side of tail 
has basal inch ochraceous, the rest white, somewhat yellowish, 
the white hairs are long and project somewhat beyond the dark 
hairs of upper side, making an indefinite white fringe and tip. 
Specimens from Grand Junction are somewhat paler, with grayer, 
less bushy tail, and are somewhat suggestive of arizonce. A 
specimen taken at Grand Lake, May 9th, is more rufous and brighter, 
and the black lining of the dorsal area is brighter and sharper, 
and the tail looks blacker. 
Distribution. — This species is found in Colorado and in portions 
of Wyoming. In Colorado it is very widely distributed over the 
State from the mountains westward. It is reported from Larimer, 
Grand, eastern Routt, Rio Blanco, El Paso, Chaflfee, Custer, Sa- 
guache, Gunnison, Delta, Mesa, Eagle, Summit, and Park counties. 
It is found over an extremely wdde range of altitude, from 4,600 
feet at Grand Junction up to timber-line (12,000 ft.) or higher, and 
seems to make itself at home anywhere. In the lower portions 
of Montrose and Montezuma counties, and no doubt those parts 
of San Miguel and Dolores lying between, it is replaced by the 
Arizona Wood-rat, while in the Escalante Hills in western Routt 
County, the Cinnamon Wood-rat is found. 
