478 THE SCANDINAVIAN LEMMING CHAP. 



Of Fiber zibethicus, or rather a closely-allied form, F. osoyoos- 

 oisis, from Lake Osoyoos near the Rockies, Mr. Lord writes l that 

 it constructs for itself a house of bulrushes built up from the 

 bottom in 3 or 4 feet of water. It is dome-shaped, and rises 

 about a foot out of the water. " If a dead or badly-wounded 

 duck be left on the pool, it is at once seized on, towed into the 

 house, and doomed." Thus it appears that this Rodent, like so 

 many others, is largely carnivorous. It has also been asserted 

 that it eats fish. 



Neofiber is an allied genus, North American in range. The 

 species, N. alleni, is compared, as regards outward form, with the 

 Water- Vole, M. amphibius. It has, however, a shorter tail. 



Another very well-known member of this sub-family is the 

 Lemming. The name, however, applies to two quite distinct 

 genera. The genus Cuniculus, including the Banded Lemming, 

 C. torquatus, is an inhabitant of North America, Siberia, and 

 Greenland. The tail is short, its length being 12 mm. as against 

 a body length of 101 mm. The feet are furred beneath, a not 

 unusual state of affairs in Arctic mammals. The ears are very 

 slight. The thumb is well developed, and bears a claw. 



In Myodes, on the other hand, which is not so markedly 

 an Arctic animal, though occurring in both Palaearctic and 

 Nearctic regions, the ears are rather bigger, though still smaller 

 than those of Microtus. The under surfaces of the feet are 

 similarly furred. The tail is also short. It is commonly said 

 that the two genera are to be distinguished by the furred feet 

 of Cuniculus, and by the absence of fur in the present genus. 

 That, according to Tullberg, does not appear to be the case. The 

 differences are thus so much reduced that it seems almost un- 

 necessary to retain the two genera. The best known species of 

 Ihjodes is of course the Scandinavian Lemming, M. lemmus. 

 This animal used to occur in this country in Pleistocene times (as 

 did also C. torquatus), and recently Dr. Gadow has found remains 

 with skins attached in caves in Portugal It may still survive 

 in the mountains of the Peninsula. 



The actual habitat of the Lemming in Scandinavia is the 



great tablelands, 3000 feet high in the centre. The migrations 



do not take place with regularity ; even twenty years may elapse 



before the appearance in cultivated lands of those countless 



1 Proc. Zool. Soc. 1863, p. 95. 



