A New Species of Arvicola. 141 



For a short period before the first snowfall in autumn the 

 Eskimo women and children search for these stores with pointed 

 sticks, which they thrust into the sides of mossy banks in suit- 

 able places, the spot being found by the ease with which the 

 stick penetrates the few inches of mossy cover. In this way con- 

 siderable quantities of this food are gathered, and during the 

 following winter it is boiled and eaten as a delicacy. The boiled 

 roots have a flavor like a boiled unripe sweet potato and are very 

 palatable during the long winter fare of meat and fish. During 

 seasons when the snow remains on the ground from fall until 

 spring, comparatively few of these mice come about the houses 

 until the snow begins to melt in spring, when they always become 

 numerous there. 



A winter thaw occurs at intervals of several years, melting 

 away nearly all of the snow. At such times the water perco- 

 lates into all of their runways and storehouses, and the quickly 

 succeeding cold freezes them solid for the remainder of the 

 season. In this way the majority of these mice are at once be- 

 reft of shelter and food, and are found wandering about on the 

 surface of the tundras, where many are eaten by foxes and other 

 animals, while others freeze to death, and scores swarm about 

 the native villages and the fur-trader stations. 



Ordinarily in spring, as the snow melts ,away, many winter 

 burrows are revealed just at the lower surface of the snow. 

 Their burrowing can never extend very deep in many places 

 where the permanently frozen soil lies at a depth of from one to 

 two feet. On a dry peat knoll fronting the sea near St. Michaels 

 I once followed their holes to a depth of about two feet. 



The Eskimo boys trap them in toy traps modeled after those 

 used by the men for larger game, and the children use their 

 skins for blankets and clothing for dolls. 



These mice are omnivorous, and when two or more are con- 

 fined together in a box the stronger usually kill and partly 

 devour the weaker. 



Through the kindness of Dr. C. Hart Merriam I am able to 

 present herewith a plate showing the character of the dentition 

 of this species. I wish also to acknowledge herein my indebted- 

 ness to the courtesy of Mr. F. W. True, Curator of Mammals in 

 the United States National Museum, who kindly placed the speci- 

 mens of the Alaskan Arvicolae at my disposal. 



