388 
SCENES IN THE PACIFIC. 
kinds of mice, are found in great numbers in many places, 
and their depredations are sometimes very disagreeable 
Pseudostoma bursarium (?) The Pouched Rat, and the Arc- 
tomys Beecheyi, Small Marmot, are curious little creatures. 
The latter is exceedingly plentiful in the plains near San 
Francisco and Monterey. It is a very sprightly animal, some¬ 
what larger than the common rat, of a fine brown color, and 
constructs its burrows with much skill, carrying in its capa¬ 
cious cheek pouches, a store of nuts, corn, and acorns, for its 
winter’s food. The species of Arctomys are numerous, and 
some of them probably undescribed. Of ascertained species 
may be mentioned A . ludovicianus , the well-known and very 
pretty Prairie marmot, sometimes called Gopher, which how¬ 
ever is not found far to the west, and A. monax , the wood¬ 
chuck. Of squirrels, there may be observed Sciurus cine - 
reus , the grey, S. niger , the black, S. macroureus, the 
great-tailed, besides Pteromys alpinus(?) the flying squirrel, 
and a species of Tamias, striped squirrel or dormouse. Of 
hares there are several fine species; one weighing from eight 
to twelve pounds, probably Lepus glacialis; another is L. 
Virginianus, the Prairie Hare, and also L. Princeps (?) the Lit¬ 
tle Hare, which is only about six inches in length. 
Birds. —Worthy of mention among the first of the feathered 
family in California, is the Great Vulture, peculiar, probably, 
to this country. Let his name be given in full—a lofty and 
sonorous one, and well fitting its owner— -Sar cor amphos Cali - 
fornianus ! Second only to the huge condor of South Ame¬ 
rica in size, and closely allied to him in many respects, this 
remarkable bird deserves particular notice. The great vul¬ 
ture is met with along the whole Pacific coast from Lower 
California to the most northern boundaries of Oregon and the 
Russian possessions. Solitary in its habits, rapacious in its 
appetite, enormous in size, and singular in conformation and 
appearance, it seems to hold the same position in the scenery 
of this country as its celebrated European congener, the 
Lammergeyer, in that of the Alps. It builds its nest among 
