MAMMALS 295 



R. fulvescens (Allen). Color buff above, white beneath; length 183 

 mm.; tail 102 mm.; hind foot 19 mm.: Mexico and southern States. 



Subspecies of R. fulvescens 



R. f. intermedius (Allen). Color pale: southern Texas. 



R.f. aurantius (Allen) . Color darker : eastern Texas and Oklahoma, 

 southern Arkansas and Louisiana west of the Mississippi. 



3. Peromyscus Gloger. Wood mice; deer mice; vesper mice; 

 white-footed mice. Body small and slender; tail long, being a third or 

 a half the total length; eyes and ears large; internal cheek pouches 

 present; hind feet and legs long, the former (except in P. floridanus) 

 with 6 plantar tubercles (Fig. 163) : about 100 species, all North Ameri- 

 can; about 15 species in the United States, with many subspecies; 

 nocturnal animals which live on the ground in a great variety of situa- 

 tions, feeding principally on grains and seeds. They do not form per- 

 manent runways, although they may 

 use those of other animals. They 

 breed throughout the year, raising 

 from 4 to 6 in a litter, and do not 



1 •! ^ 1 1 . Fig. 163. — Hind foot of Peromyscus 



hibernate, and may exceed m leucopus, showing the plantar tubercles 

 numbers all the other mammals in a ^f'"'" "oweii). 



region. They frequently enter and live in dwellings, and may be 

 distinguished from the house-mouse by their snow-white feet and 

 under parts. 



P. maniculatus (Wagner). Color brown or brownish gray above, 

 the middorsal region being darker; under parts and feet white; length 

 160 to 200 mm.; tail 70 to 120 mm.; hind foot 19 to 21 mm.; mammae 6; 

 tail and body sharply bicolor: North America from Hudson Bay and 

 Alaska to southern Mexico, which is the widest range of perhaps any 

 North American mammal; mostly in woodlands; 27 subspecies. 



Subspecies of P. maniculatus 



P. m. maniculatus (Wag.). Tail short, averaging less than 90 mm. 

 in length: Hudsonian zone of northeastern Canada. 



P. m. gracilis (LeConte). Tail very long; length 200 mm.; tail 112 

 mm.: northern and central New York, northern Vermont, Michigan, 

 Wisconsin and Minnesota into Canada; Canadian zone. 



P. m. abietorum (Bangs). Similar to P. m. gracilis but paler and 

 grayer: central Maine to Nova Scotia. 



P. m. nubiterrce Rhoads. Like P. m. gracilis, but smaller: Alle- 

 ghenies from western Pennsylvania to Georgia, Canadian zone. 



