. A biological survey of Colorado. Natural history Colorado; Mammals Colorado; Trees Colorado. MAMMALS. 119 and tlie pads of piickly ])ear. Scattered here and tliero over tlie cactus Hat they looked curiously like nuiskrat houses on a marsli. (Sec fig. 15.) The rats were trapped at the entrances to the nests, of which there were usually two above ground, and often a third openhig beneath a busli a yard or so distant. Tlie largest of tlie houses were in thickets of Atrlplex corifertifoUa, but the smaller sti uc- tures were reared in bunches of Opuntia. Specimens of N. desertorum and orol
. A biological survey of Colorado. Natural history Colorado; Mammals Colorado; Trees Colorado. MAMMALS. 119 and tlie pads of piickly ])ear. Scattered here and tliero over tlie cactus Hat they looked curiously like nuiskrat houses on a marsli. (Sec fig. 15.) The rats were trapped at the entrances to the nests, of which there were usually two above ground, and often a third openhig beneath a busli a yard or so distant. Tlie largest of tlie houses were in thickets of Atrlplex corifertifoUa, but the smaller sti uc- tures were reared in bunches of Opuntia. Specimens of N. desertorum and orolestes were taken within a few feet of each other, the latter species living in the banks of the dry arroyos which border the Hat occupied by the small desertorum. I did not find the s})ecies in the desert areas of southwestern Colo- rado in 1907, although much of the region seems suitable. Phenacomys oro- philus Merriam. ^fountain Phen- acomys. An adult female Phenacomys which Warren collected December 11,190G, at Lake Moraine, El Paso County, and forwarded to the Biological Survey for identification, proves referable to P. oropliilus of the northern Rocky Mountains, and is quite distinct from P. prehleiy taken on Longs Peak. The Lake Moraine specimen differs from the type of prehlei in its larger size, more robust skull, and particularly in its much grayer pelage. The fur is full and long and of a beautiful frosted gray color, wdiile the feet and tail are almost white. The measurements are: Total length, 140; tail vertebrae, 30; hind foot, 18. Warren secured this specimen near Ruxton Creek, at 10,250 feet, ^'in a hole near creek ; An imper- fect skull in the National Museum which belongs to an alcoholic speci- men (No. 59691, Fairplay, Park Co., July 11, 1873) is large and robust as compared with the skull of the type of P. prehlei, and accords w^ell with the Lake Moraine specimen. The skin has lost its color value through long immersion in alcohol. The altitude of F
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