Page:Natural History of the Ground Squirrels of California.djvu/95

Rh At the railroad station of Whitewater this animal was found by museum collectors to be common, June 3 to 5 (1908), in a tract of sand dunes nearby. The shrill calls or whistles were heard frequently, and many of the squirrels were trapped. Some of these were young, one-third to one-half grown. The old males and part of the old females taken then were very fat; all the rest lean. A female taken at Mecca, March 27, was found to contain five large embryos. The extent of the breeding season is thus indicated. Doubtless but one litter is raised each year.

Search in the vicinity of Palm Springs in December and January of different years has failed to show the presence of these squirrels actively abroad; so that it is likely that they hibernate during midwinter. In 1916, Swarth (MS) found them out on February 4 in a tract of sandy soil about a mile east of the village. They occurred in small scattered colonies, each "colony" marked by twelve to fifteen open holes on level ground among creasote bushes. "Parts of the burrows were shallow, so that a person would sink through into them ankle deep." The animals when alarmed would scurry to their holes and disappear into them, but would presently poke up their heads and utter "faint little barks."

No information has come to us that would indicate any decided economic bearing on the part of the Palm Springs Round-tailed Ground Squirrel. Because of its dry-land preferences it is likely that reclamation and irrigation of the land would drive it away rather than attract it. Thus the reaction would be just the opposite to that in the case of the Oregon Ground Squirrel and similar species.

Other names.—Gilded Squirrel; Gilded Ground Squirrel; Copper-headed Ground Squirrel; Copperhead; Yellow-headed Chipmunk, part; Golden Chipmunk; Side-stripe Ground Squirrel; Bummer; Trinity Ground Squirrel; Callospermophilus chrysodeirus trinitatis; Citellus chrysodeirus, part; Spermophilus chrysodeirus, part; Spermophilus lateralis; Callospermophilus lateralis chrysodeirus; Citellus chrysodeirus trinitatis; Tamias chrysodeirus; Tamias lateralis, part.

Field characters.—A medium-sized, ground-dwelling squirrel with conspicuous stripes along sides of body; whole head more or less deeply yellow or coppery red; build stout; length of body without tail about 7⅓ inches, with tail about 3½ inches more.

Description.—Adult in fresh late-summer pelage: Whole top of head and hind neck, orange-cinnamon; cheek and side of neck to shoulder, ochraceous-tawny; side of snout, area around eye, ear and spot behind ear, ochraceous-buff of varying intensity; whiskers black. Two black stripes and an intervening buffy white stripe on each side of body; the whitish stripe longest, extending from shoulder over side of rump nearly to base of tail; the lower black stripe next in length, the upper shortest and it and its fellow of opposite side separated by a median band of grizzled light cinnamon-brown; this band extends from between shoulders backwards to base of tail, and expands on rump to cover flanks; side of body below lower black stripe, light buff, obscured by dusky hair-tippings. Upper sides of feet light buff;