504 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF NEW JERSEY. 



food consists largely of seeds of plants and nuts. The 'chin- 

 kapin ' or dwarf-chestnut they are extravagantly fond of, and 

 they appear to store up quantities for winter use, but as they 

 hibernate the nuts are not intended for such use, but are their 

 ' stand-by ' during November and so much of December as is 

 sufficiently mild to warrant their remaining above the sod, for 

 when it becomes really cold they burrow quite deeply down. 

 They eat, too, little grain, and are too little abundant to be 

 offensive.'' When animals are rare, it is a shame to wantonly 

 destroy them. 



Family MURIDJE. 



Mice. 



MUS, L. 

 M. decumanus, Pal. Brown Rat. Norway Rat. 



Tail scaly, shorter than head and body ; feet dusky white ; 

 fur mixed with stiff hairs. Introduced into America about 1775. 



" Everywhere abundant, troublesome and boldly impudent. 

 Very frequently met with in fields, burrowing and otherwise 

 living as a strictly wild species. Their burrows are often very 

 extensive, tortuous and deep, one large chamber frequently hav- 

 ing several entries leading to it. They feed largely on grain 

 when accessible, but are omnivorous." 



M. rattus, L. Black Rat. 



Tail not shorter than head and body ; feet brown. Introduced 

 into America about 1544, but now giving way to the preceding. 



" Formerly an abundant species is now nearly, if not quite 

 extinct. The author has met with but a single specimen, which 

 was taken in Essex county in 1846 and preserved as a curiosity." 

 -[C. C. A.] 



M. musculus, L. Mouse. 



"Abundant at all times and under all circumstances. More 

 than it is generally believed of this species live out of doors. 

 When thus living, they burrow quite extensively, generally 

 under the shelter of corn-shocks, and still more frequently about 

 the roots of trees, especially trees standing on the borders of 

 fields. It lays up quite large stores of grain for its winter use." 



