FAMILY MURID.E. 89 



This species is common in the western part of the State. My specimens were obtained 

 from the neighborhood of Oneida lake. It appears to prefer moist places. 



THE LIGHT-COLORED MEADOW-MOUSE. 



Arvicola albo-rufescens. 

 plate xxiv. fig. 1. —(collection of prof. emmons.) 



Arvicoh albo-rufescens. Emmons, Mass. Report, 1840, p. GO. 



Characteristics. Light yellowish above, lighter beneath. Length five inches. 



Description. Body compact. Head conical, moderate, with a slightly convex outline. 

 Muzzle prominent, and furnished on each side with two series of light brownish bristles, 

 extending as far back as the ears. Eyes small and black. Nostrils lateral, with a dividing 

 furrow. Ears membranous, large and rounded, with hairy margins and a broad auditory 

 opening. Fore feet feeble, and clothed with short subrigid hairs extending to the tips of the 

 nails, with a thumb tubercle, furnished with a rudimentary nail. All the nails nearly straight, 

 slightly incurved. Hind feet longer, and clothed in the same manner with short hairs ; five- 

 clawed, the three medial subequal. Tail slender, scaly, sparsely covered with rigid hairs, a 

 few of them extending 0*15 beyond the tips. In cabinet specimens, the desiccation of the 

 tail gives it a somewhat nodulous appearance. Upper incisors short, yellow, and convex in 

 front ; lower incisors long and rounded. Upper molars broad and angular in front, narrow 

 and more rounded behind. In the lower jaw, the anterior molar is composed of six plates of 

 enamel ; the middle, of four ; and the posterior, which is smallest, of three plates. 



Color. All the upper part of the head and body, and the sides, drab, with a tinge of reddish ; 

 beneath greyish, with a tinge of sulphur yellow. All the fur white at base. Feet and tail 

 brownish, the latter cinereous beneath. 



Length of head and body, . 3 -08. Length of fore legs, 0-6. 



Ditto of tail (vertebra?), ... 1 .03. Ditto of hind legs, 1 • 0. 



Ditto of ears, - 25. 



For an opportunity of examining this animal, I am indebted to Prof. Emmons, who obtained 

 it on its form or nest, with another of the same shape and color. The color of its eyes renders 

 it probable that it was not an albino. It appears to be very rare. 



Fauna. 12 



