_Specimens examined._--Total, 7, distributed as follows: Los Angeles County: 8 mi. E and 3 mi. S Llano, 3500 ft., 1; Mescal Wash, 4200 ft., 5 (3 PC); 2 mi. S Valyermo, 4600 ft., 1 (PC). =Neotoma lepida intermedia= Rhoads Desert Woodrat This species was on the Pacific face of the Mountains from 1600 feet elevation in the coastal sage belt, to 4800 feet elevation in open groves of big cone-spruce and scrub oak of the chaparral association. The local distribution of this woodrat is determined by suitable nesting sites. Although taken in different types of vegetation, _lepida_, without exception, was associated with rocky areas or areas supporting patches of prickly-pear cactus. In the channels of San Antonio Wash, _lepida_ was commonly associated with jumbles of boulders and boulder-dotted cut banks. There the vegetation is sparse, and the rats dwell among the rocks; only their droppings and faint trails indicate their presence. Among boulders _lepida_ builds only small houses of sticks and debris, and even these only occasionally. The effect of the prickly-pear cactus on the distribution of _lepida_ in the sageland is striking; trap lines there yielded no woodrats where extensive rock piles and patches of prickly-pear were absent, but many rats were taken where patches of prickly-pear are plentiful. On an acre supporting coastal sagebrush at the mouth of San Antonio Canyon, at 1800 feet elevation, there were fourteen patches of prickly-pear, each covering at least thirty square feet. In these patches there were thirteen occupied woodrat nests. Only one patch lacked an occupied nest, and this one contained the remains of an old nest. On this acre there were at least thirteen individuals. In the sagebrush belt only an occasional large patch of cactus lacks a woodrat house occupied by _lepida_. Seemingly _Neotoma fuscipes_ does not build houses in patches of prickly-pear.