298 HODOMYS. MICROTUS. 



Color. Above dull fulvous, mixed with black; face gray; under 

 parts whitish and washed with fulvous, the latter sometimes re- 

 stricted to sides of belly; tail above blackish, beneath whitish; fore 

 and hind feet white. 



Measurements. Total length, 380; tail vertebrae, 166; hind foot, 

 38; ear, 29. Skull: total length, 47; basal length, 41; Hensel, 39; 

 zygomatic width, 25; length of crowns of upper molar series, 9. 



The Subfamily MICROTIN^E contains the Meadow Mice of North 

 America. In general, these troublesome creatures (for they prove 

 to be great pests to the agriculturalist) inhabit low, swampy meadows, 

 near streams, along the banks of which their narrow runways can 

 readily be seen amid the grass; but others again are found in lofty 

 mountainous districts, and still others on thirsty plains. Small in 

 size, dark of pelage, and quick of movement, they are difficult to see 

 in the usually thick grass amid which they live, as their rather 

 stubby forms pass quickly before the observer. They make their 

 nests in burrows and are very prolific. From the true mouse they 

 are distinguishable by a short tail and legs, short, blunt muzzle, and 

 ears buried in the fur. There are numerous species and races, some 

 of the latter separated on such fine lines as to be practically indis- 

 tinguishable, and the entire group is divided into several subgeneric 

 sections, based mainly on the differences in the structure of the 

 teeth. These animals are the representatives in North America of 

 the voles of Europe. The species on the American Continent are 

 most numerous north of the United States and Mexican boundary line. 



Subfam. III. Microtinse. Meadow Mice, Voles, etc. 

 6O. Microtus. 



G. S. Miller. Genera and Subgenera of Voles and Lemmings. N. 

 Am. Faun., 1896, No. 12. 



V. Bailey. Revision of the American Voles of the genus Microtus. 

 N. Am. Faun., 1900, No. 17. 



Microtus Schrank, Faun. Boica, i, ist Abth., 1798, p. 72. Type Mus 



arvalis Pallas. 



Arvicola Lace"p., Me'm. 1'Instit., 1801, in, p. 495. 

 Mynomes Rafin., Am. Month. Mag., 1817, n, p. 45. 

 Psammomys LeConte, Ann. N. Y. Lye. Nat. Hist., 1830, p. 132. 

 (nee Cretzschmer.) 



