birds; several montane mammals are discussed later. The vegetation of the Mesa Verde has not changed appreciably in the last thousand years. The tree rings of 13 centuries show that Douglas fir has grown essentially as it does now, varying with precipitation from year to year, and periodically suffering from drouth (Schulman, 1946:18). Surface ruins yield mostly pinyon and juniper; cave ruins yield more Douglas fir than surface ruins; and "only rarely does yellow pine [Pinus ponderosa] occur in the ruins, indicating that then, as now, this tree grew only in the northern and higher parts of the Mesa Verde, remote from most of the ruins" (Getty, 1935:21).

Not all areas within the Park are undisturbed. The rights of way of roads are kept clear, as are campgrounds and other facilities in the area of headquarters. Part of the Mancos Valley within the Park is privately owned and is still in agricultural use. Cattle from land belonging to the Ute Indians wander into the Park from the Mancos Canyon along the floor of the canyon above the mouth of Weber Canyon. In addition to the pasture near headquarters, Prater Canyon below a fence across the canyon above Middle Well is used to pasture horses used by visitors to the Park and belonging to the pack and saddle concessioner. In 1956, the floor of Long Canyon was grazed by stock belonging to Utes, and horses ranged freely onto Wetherill Mesa as far as the North Rim. Occasionally livestock enter the floor of other canyons, for example Navajo, Soda, Prater, Morfield, and Waters canyons, owing to inadequate fencing, or no fencing.

Fig. 2. Map of Mesa Verde National Park and vicinity. The map and this legend provide the names of places mentioned in the following accounts of mammals. Localities from which specimens have been preserved are indicated by dots. Localities within ½ mile of each other are not indicated by separate dots. Unnumbered dots designate some of the places from which specimens were obtained. The numbered dots are: (1) Prater Grade; (2) Upper Well, Prater Canyon, 7575 ft.; (3) Chickaree Draw, 8200 ft.; (4) ¼ mi. N Middle Well, 7500 ft., Prater Canyon; (5) east side of Morfield Canyon about one mile below the well; (6) Lower Well, Prater Canyon; (7) Sect. 27, head of east fork Navajo Canyon; (8) Far View, designated on various specimens as Far View Ruins, Far View Point, and Far View House, 7700 ft.; (9) localities designated Utility Area, and Well, "Park Well," or "Old Park Well"; (10) Headquarters, including the designations 25 mi. [by road] SW Mancos, Museum, Hospital, head of Spruce Tree Canyon, Spruce Tree House, and Spruce Tree Lodge; (11) Cliff Palace, across the canyon about ¼ mile southwest are Sun Temple and Oak Tree Ruin; (12) Square Tower House; (13) Balcony House; (14) Indian Cornfield, "Cornfield," or "Garden."

The first mammals from the Mesa to be preserved for scientific study were seven specimens in the United States National Museum (designated USNM in lists of specimens examined) obtained by Merritt Cary in 1907, and mentioned in his "Biological Survey of Colorado" (Cary, 1911). In 1931 and 1932, R.L. Landberg obtained a few specimens that are in the Denver Museum of Natural History. In 1935, C.W. Quaintance, Lloyd White, Harold P. Pratt, and A.E. Borell prepared specimens, some of which remain in the museum at the Park (all specimens in the museum at the Park are designated by "MV" for Mesa Verde and by their catalogue numbers), and some are in the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology at the University of California at Berkeley (designated "MVZ" in the following accounts). Specimens in The University of Kansas Museum of Natural History are referred to by catalogue numbers only. Specimens prepared by D. Watson bear dates from 1936 until 1955. In 1938, Raymond F. Harlow prepared some specimens; his Student Technician's Report of 7 typescript pages, for July 8 to September 9, 1938, is on file at Mesa Verde National Park. In 1944 and 1945, Dr. D.A. Sutton, then a student at the University of Colorado, collected chipmunks for his own study, and also some other specimens that are in the University of Colorado Museum and the Park Museum. In 1949, Dr. R.B. Finley, then a student at The University of Kansas, collected in and near the Park and obtained a few specimens preserved in The University of Kansas Museum of Natural History. Rodents preserved by Harold R. Shepherd have been mentioned. I have examined 244 specimens that were collected by the above persons. Between August 8 and September 4, 1956, and on July 17, 1960, I collected 216 mammals from Mesa Verde National Park. Between November 3, and 12, 1957, J.R. Alcorn collected 275 mammals from the Mesa. The total of specimens examined is 735.

Written reports by C.W. Quaintance, H.P. Pratt, and R. Harlow have been of considerable use. A typescript report of 13 pages by Wildlife Technician H.P. Pratt for the period from September 9 to October 15, 1935, and monthly reports comprising 40 typescript pages and 4 pages with photographs by C.W. Quaintance for the period from February 18 through July 17, 1935, are on file at offices of Region Four, National Park Service, 180 New Montgomery Street, San Francisco 5, California. Chief Ranger Wade has kindly made available the files in his office, including reports of the Superintendent and reports of the Chief Ranger in earlier years, and Annual or Biennial Animal Census Reports since 1930. Special reports on prairie dogs, porcupines, and deer are in the files. These reports, and random reports that were regarded as reliable, are recorded on card files in both the Chief Ranger's office and Park Archeologist's office. Most of the information reported here on the larger mammals was gleaned from the above sources. A study of population fluctuations in porcupines by Donald A. Spencer and perhaps a study of movements of porcupines by Spencer, Wade and Fitch are to be published elsewhere. Other studies still in progress are mentioned in the following accounts.

ACCOUNTS OF SPECIES

Sorex merriami leucogenys Osgood
Merriam's Shrew

This was the third reported specimen of the rare Merriam's shrew from Colorado (Rodeck and Anderson, 1956:436).

Sorex vagrans obscurus Merriam
Wandering Shrew

The specimens from Prater Canyon were trapped in the grasses and sedges of the meadow comprising the floor of the canyon. The ground and vegetation were dry at the time of capture, September 2, 3, and 4, 1956. Microtus montanus was the only other species taken in the mouse traps in the sedge and grass. Five of the six specimens from Prater Canyon are young, having slightly worn teeth; the sixth is an old adult male the teeth of which are so much worn that only a few traces of the reddish-brown pigment remain. His testes were 5 mm. long. These specimens are from an area of intergradation between S. v. obscurus and S. v. monticola. The length of the maxillary tooth-row in these six specimens averaged 6.23 (6.1–6.4) millimeters. Comparison with average measurements of 6.6 and