222 FIELD MUSEUM or NATURAL HISTORY ZOOLOGY, VOL. XL 



the burrow; and at one side, and in the deepest part of the excavation, 

 was the store of winter provisions. This consisted of 5 or 6 quarts of 

 roots, chiefly the round tubers of two species of spike-flowers (liatris), 

 which grow abundantly in the vicinity, with a few roots of helianthus, 

 and of various grasses, and several bulbs of wild onions." (I. c., pp. 

 98-99.) 



Kennicott also states that in confinement they were practically 

 omnivorous and very pugnaceous ; two males which he placed in a cage 

 fought savagely and one killed and partly devoured the other. Several 

 others, which he had in captivity, ate an astonishing amount of food, 

 including corn, carrots, fresh meat and almost anything offered them. 

 He also says: "They drank a great deal of water, soon perishing when 

 left long without it, or some moist food." (1. c., p. 100.) 



Specimens examined from Illinois and adjoining states: 

 Illinois Golconda, Pope Co., 7; Rosiclare, Hardin Co., 15; Fox Lake, 



Lake Co., 6; Galena, Jo Daviess Co., 2; Olive Branch, Alexander Co., 



22; Ozark, Johnson Co., i; Reevesville, Johnson Co., 2 = 56. 

 Indiana La Porte, 2. 

 Iowa Knoxville, 3. 



Microtus minor MERRIAM, LITTLE MEADOW MOUSE OR LITTLE 

 VOLE. It is not unlikely that this form may occur in northwestern 

 Wisconsin, as it has been recorded from eastern Minnesota. It may 

 be distinguished from ochrogaster by its small size and smaller and 

 narrower skull. A sixth tubercle on hind foot is usually present, 

 though small. The Field Museum collection contains specimens from 

 Fort Snelling, Minnesota. 



Subgenus PITYMYS McMurtrie. 



Plantar tubercles 5 ; crown of third upper molar showing 4 loops, the 

 middle ones forming 2 closed triangles; mammae 4, inguinal; skull flat 

 and wide. For characters distinguishing other subgenera, see page 213. 



Microtus pinetorum scalopsoides (Auo. & BACH.). 

 MOLE MOUSE. MOLE PINE MOUSE. MOLE-LIKE VOLE. 



Arvicola scalopsoides AUD. & BACH., Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., I, 1841, p. 97. 



KENNICOTT, Agr. Rept. for 1856, U. S. Patent Office Rept., 1857, p. 102. 

 Arvicola kennicotti BAIRD, Mammals N. Amer., 1857, p. 547 (Illinois). 

 Arvicola pinetorum EVERMANN & BUTLER (part), Proc. Ind. Acad. Sci., 1893 (1894), 



p. 127 (Indiana). 

 Microtus pinetorum scalopsoides BAILEY, N. A. Fauna, No. 17, 1900, p. 64 (Indiana, 



Illinois, etc.). LANTZ, U. S. Dept. Agr., Biol. Surv., Bull. No. 31, 1907, p. 19. 



HAHN, Ann. Rept. Dept. Geol. & Nat. Resources Ind., 1908 (1909), p. 516 



(Indiana). 



