PARKS' — NEOTOMA IN SANTA CRUZ MOUNTAINS 
247 
There was an entrance to an underground passage on the opposite 
side of the chamber to this breeding nest. This underground passage 
was an old burnt out root about ten inches in diameter and four or five 
feet below the level of the ground and extended laterally to a river 
bank some few feet distant. I ascertained this by starting a smudge. 
I forced some smoke into the hole and drove a rat out into the open 
on the bank. This nest was not rebuilt. 
Unusual forms of construction are frequently met with and are 
often a puzzle. I found several along the rocky ledges at the Guada- 
loupe Mines which were but little more than heaps of sticks piled 
around deep holes or crevices in the rocks, the material in which must 
have been secured with difficulty. I endeavored to interview the occu- 
pants of one such nest with some unexpected success. One of the 
occupants was a very long slender snake, probably a California striped 
racer, which proceeded to race back and forth through some brush but 
I could not make it leave the vicinity of the nest. It is said that rattlers 
sometimes use these nests but although I have had some painful ex- 
periences in trying to prove it I have never found the rattler in the nest. 
If the rattler occupies the nest he also eats the rats. 
I have observed many strange nests this last season or two, but 
none of them illustrates the ingenuity and dexterity of these animals 
more than one which was found on the site of an abandoned farm near 
Los Gatos. The nest was built in the crotch of an ancient laurel which 
had partly decayed as these trees frequently do. The usual brush and 
rubbish was piled loosely around on the ground. Above this was an 
immense pile of shingles built into the crotch of the tree to a height of 
five feet or more, all laid flat one upon another and securely braced 
to prevent falling. These rats had carried shingles a hundred feet or 
more from an old fallen roof and piled them with an infinite amount of 
labor. 
In the Guadaloupe Mine region where there are some very large 
coast live oaks (Quercus agrijolia) the rats have taken advantage of 
heavy crossing branches in a unique way. Two nests were located 
close together in adjacent trees where the outer limbs crossed and 
braced each other and formed a solid base to build upon. The builders 
used three crossing limbs as the foundation and then drew in the smaller 
branches as the nests grew until the whole nest had attained a height 
of five feet or more and the base an area of nine or ten square feet. 
Although these nests swayed back and forth with the heavy winds they 
were very solid and difficult to take apart. These nests were two 
