238 
FREMONT'S SQUIRREL. 
There is a slight and almost imperceptible black stripe about a line wide 
and three inches long, separating the colour of the sides from the ashy- 
white tint of the under surface. The annulations in the hairs of the tail 
are somewhat indistinct : from the roots for nearly half their length they 
are grayish-white, are then black, and are broadly tipped with white. 
DIMENSIONS. 
Length of head and body, 
“ tail (vertebras), 
“ “ (including fur), - 
Height of ear posteriorly, 
“ “ (including tufts), 
Palm and middle fore-claw, 
Sole and middle hind-claw, 
Inches. 
- 7 
- 43 
- 64 
3 
8 
7 
8 
- li 
. o 
HABITS. 
We possess no information in regard to this animal farther than that it 
was obtained on the Rocky Mountains. 
It no doubt, like all the other small species of Squirrels which are closely 
allied with it ( Richardsonii , Hudsonius, lanuginosus, &c.), feeds on the seeds 
of pines, and other coniferas. 
All these squirrels inhabit elevated regions of country, and in addition 
to their habit of climbing, have burrows in the ground, wherein they make 
their dormitories, and dwell in winter ; whilst in summer they select the 
hollow of a tree, in which they construct their nests. 
Their note is peculiar, like chickaree chickaree repeated in quick succes- 
sion, and differing from the qua qua quah note of the larger squirrels. 
By their habit of burrowing or living in holes in the ground, these small 
squirrels make an approach to the genus Tamias, or ground squirrels. 
GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
The only specimen we have seen was obtained by Colonel Fremont ; it 
was procured on the Rocky Mountains, on his route by the south pass to 
California. 
GENERAL REMARKS. 
The tufts on the ears of this species are considerably larger than in any 
other known species of squirrel in our country, except Sciurus dorsalis, a 
