therill Mesa 2 mi. NNW
Rock Springs, 7900 ft., August 24, 1956.

Nuttall's cottontail in Colorado is in general the cottontail of the
highlands, and the three localities just mentioned are on the top of the
Mesa Verde.

Sciurus aberti mimus Merriam Abert's Squirrel

_Specimens examined._--Total, 2: [Male], MV 7872/507, prepared
by D. Watson, killed by a car "near" the Park Well on September 24,
1937; [Female] (an unnumbered cased skin only), found dead
"near" the Park Well on June 21, 1937.

Since 1934 these squirrels have been observed and recorded each year
except in 1938, 1943, 1947, 1953, 1957, and 1958. The 77 reported
observations can be grouped as follows: 11 from within a mile of the
entrance to the Park, 14 from the North Rim or higher parts of canyons
adjacent to it, 38 from Chapin Mesa south of Far View, and 14 not
classifiable. The large number of observations on Chapin Mesa, chiefly
in the vicinity of Park Headquarters, indicates the presence of more
observers rather than more squirrels in this area.

Tamiasciurus hudsonicus fremonti (Audubon and Bachman) Red Squirrel

_Specimens examined._--Total, 2: MV 7843/507, Chickaree Draw,
Prater Canyon, 1935, C.W. Quaintance and Lloyd White; [Female],
69264, no embryos, 1/4 mi. NNW Middle Well, Prater Canyon, 7600
ft., August 31, 1956.

Red squirrels, or chickarees as they are called in Colorado, are known
from only one place on the Mesa Verde, a side canyon on the west side of
Prater Canyon above Middle Well. This side canyon has been named
Chickaree Draw by C.W. Quaintance, who, with Lloyd White, studied the
chickaree there in 1935. Quaintance reported the small colony at 7800
feet elevation in Douglas fir beneath which were found piles of cones
from which the seeds had been eaten by the chickarees. On May 29, 1935,
White observed a chickaree eating green oak leaves. On June 3, 1935, a
nest was found in an old hollow snag up under the rim rock; there were
four young squirrels in the nest. At least one nest was in a juniper and
was composed mostly of oak leaves and grass. One nest twenty-five feet
from the ground in a Douglas fir was composed of oak leaves and finely
shredded cedar bark. In August, 1956, I found these squirrels in the
same area and I shot one specimen. Other chickarees were seen and heard
and the characteristic piles of parts of Douglas fir cones still attest
to their presence. On September 1