694 RODENTIA. 



The color of the Water Rat is a chestnut-brown, dashed with gray on 

 the upper parts, and fading to gray below. The ears are so short that 

 they are hardly perceptible above the fur. The incisor teeth are of a 

 light yellow, and are very thick and strong. The tail is shorter than 

 that of the common rat, hardly exceeding half the length of the head and 

 body. The average length of a full-grown specimen is thirteen inches, 

 the tail being about four inches and three-quarters long. It is not so 

 prolific an animal as the Brown Rat, breeding only twice in the year, 

 and i^roducing from five to six young at a birth. 



It is falsely accused of destroying fish ; but it does immense harm by 

 the tunnels it forms in embankments. Its food is entirely aquatic plants 

 and roots. 



The Campagnol, Arvicola arvalis, or Common Field Mouse of Europe, 

 is a great foe to the European farmer. It eats his seed-corn, it plunders 

 the ripening corn, it devcjurs the contents of his ricks and barns. Its 

 color is a ruddy brown, with gray on the chest. The tail is only one- 

 third the lengtli of the body. 



Wilson's Meadow Mouse, Arvicola Pcnnsylvanka, is the common 

 Meadow Mouse of the Northern and Eastern States. In every meadow 

 you may trace its small tortuous paths cut through the grass, leading to 

 the root of a stump, or the borders of a ditch. If you dig up the nest, 

 you find a family of five or ten. Their galleries do not run under- 

 ground, but extend along the surface. The food of this species consists 

 principally of roots and grasses ; it will eat also bulbs, such as meadow- 

 garlic, and red-lily. In Very severe winters, when the ground is hozen, 

 it sometimes attacks the bark of shrubs and fruit-trees, peeling it off, and 

 destroying the tree. But Audubon thinks it does little harm to the 

 farmer. It swims and dives well, but never visits outhouses or dwellings. 



It is found in all the New England States, and is abundant in New 

 York. It is common near Philadelphia, and has been traced southward 

 to the northern boundary of North Carolina, and northward to Hud- 

 son's Bay. 



GENUS MYODES. 



The four species of the genus arc compactly built, short-tailed 

 animals. The head is large, the under lip deeply cleft, the ear small, 

 and all the feet have five toes. 



