Page:Natural History of the Ground Squirrels of California.djvu/15

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Other names.—Digger Squirrel, part; Beechey Ground Squirrel; Beechey's Marmot; Beechey Spermophile; Spermophilus beecheyi, part; Arctomys beecheyi; Spermophilus grammurus beecheyi, part; Citellus variegatus beecheyi; Citellus grammurus beecheyi; Otospermophilus beecheyi.

Field characters.—A large ground-dwelling squirrel, with long bushy tail, good-sized ears, and general brownish coloration; dull whitish area on side of neck and shoulder, and fine dappled pattern of coloration on back and sides, to be seen in close view. Length of body alone about 10½ inches, with tail (without hairs) about 6½ inches more.

Description.—Adults in summer pelage: Top of head, stripe down middle of hind neck, whole back, sides, and rump, of a general wood brown tone of coloration, but variegated in fine pattern on back, rump and sides by mottlings of snuff brown and buffy white; these mottlings usually line up in transverse rows, the rows being most distinct across the rump; a large area centering on side of neck and involving



shoulder, and a faint stripe backward a short distance from upper margin of this area, dull white. Cheeks dirty white, changing to wood brown color between eye and ear; eyelids white; whiskers black. Ears tall and conspicuous, finely haired; color of ear inside, pale pinkish buff; back of ear, front half, black, becoming dull cinnamon buff at base and on hinder margin; fine black hairs extending above rim at tip of ear sometimes so numerous and long as to form a small tuft; whole lower surface of body, inner sides of fore and hind legs, and upper sides of feet, pinkish buff; hairs of breast and belly gray at base, this resulting in a darker tone on this area. Palms of fore feet naked; soles of hind feet thinly haired behind tubercles, or else wholly naked, due apparently to wearing away of the hairs altogether; claws brownish black, horn-color toward tips. Tail bushy, though not nearly so much so as in the tree squirrels, flat haired, parallel-sided, and square or round ended; hairs along sides of tail about 41 mm. (1⅝ inches) long, at end of tail the same; general color of tail both above and below buffy grizzled gray, in other words mixed black and buffy white in