3IO VERTEBRATE ANIMALS OF THE UNITED STATES 



coast region from northern California to Puget Sound; in dry open 

 forests. 



.1/. serpens Merr. Color sooty gray; belly dusky; length 130 mm.; 

 tail 31 mm.; hind foot 18 mm.: northern Washington and southern 

 British Columbia between the Cascades and Puget Sound. 



2. Lagurus Gloger. Similar to Microtus; cranium low and wide; 

 plantar tubercles 5; mammae 8; colors pale; fur lax; tail very short; 

 size small: 4 species. 



L. curtatus (Cope). Color buffy gray; whitish beneath; length 141 

 mm.; tail 27 mm.; hind foot 17 mm.: eastern California and western 

 Nevada; Transition zone. 



L. pallidus (Merriman). Color very pale buffy gray; length 121 

 mm.; tail 25 mm.; hind foot 18 mm.: western Dakota and Montana, in 

 high prairies. 



L. pauperrimus (Cooper). Color buffy gray; length 115 mm.; tail 

 20 mm. ; hind foot 16 mm. : eastern Washington and Oregon; Transition 

 zone. 



3. Pitymys McMurtrie. Like Microtus; cranium flat and wide; 

 plantar tubercles 5; mammae 4; fur short and dense; ears very small; 

 tail very short: 3 species, i in Mexico. 



P. pinetorum (LeConte). Pine mouse. Color bright russet brown; 

 belly dusky; ears concealed in the fur; length 113 mm.; tail 18 mm.; 

 hind foot 15 mm.: Georgia and Mississippi to Indiana and New York; 

 common in fields and open woods. The pine mouse has an underground 

 nest and raises several litters of from i to 4 young a year; the runways 

 are also underground, and often resemble mole's tunnels; the food 

 consists of grasses, roots and bark, and great damage is often done to 



orchards and gardens. 



Subspecies of P. pinetorum 

 Fig. 171.— Lower jaw of Synapiomys P . p . pifietorufu (LeCoute) . Georgia 



cooperi (from Miller). ^^^ ^^^ CaroliuaS. 



p. p. scalopsoides (Audubon and Bachman) . Size larger ; color darker : 

 North Carolina to New York; westward to Illinois. 



P. p. auricularis (Bailey). Colors dark and rich, ears large: Missis- 

 sippi to Indiana, between the Alleghany Mountains and the ^Mississippi 

 River. 



P. nemoralis (Bailey) . Color full chestnut ; belly washed with bright 

 cinnamon; length 130 mm.; tail 24 mm.; hind foot 18 mm.: westward of 

 the Mississippi River from Arkansas to Iowa. 



