70 REPORT OF NEW JERSEY STATE MUSEUM. 
Microtus pinetorum scalopsoides (Audubon & Bachman). 
Northern Pine Mouse. 
PLATES 23 AND 24, FIG. 2. 
Length 6 inches. Uniform rusty brown above, lighter on the 
sides, silvery gray beneath. Young individuals, gray above with 
no reddish tint. Fur short, dense and silky like that of a mole. 
which character distinguishes this species from any other mouse. 
All over the lowlands of New Jersey, even up to the slopes of 
the mountains, this mouse is an abundant species. Unlike the 
meadow mouse, which makes its runways on the surface, this 
little animal is strictly subterranean, burrowing like a mole just 
below the surface. Mr. S. N. Rhoads, who has studied the habits 
of our wild mice very carefully, is confident that this is the most 
destructive species, doing much of the damage that is usually at- 
tributed to the meadow mouse or the mole. All sorts of roots, 
tubers and vegetable seeds planted in the garden are favorite food 
‘for this animal, and many a planting has to be done over again on 
account of his depredations. The pine mouse is not restricted to 
cultivated grounds as it occurs also sparingly in wooded areas. 
Our pine mouse is a variety of the pine mouse of the south, 
originally described by Dr. LeConte, the latter differing in the 
brighter red, less grayish tone of the fur. 
Arvicola pinetorum. Abbott, Cook’s Geol. of N. J., 1868, p. 758. 
Microtus pinetorum Rhoads, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., 
1897, p: 26: 
Microtus pinetorum scalopsoides Rhoads, Mam. Pa. and N. J., 
1903, p- LOL 
Genus FiBer Cuvier. 
Muskrats. 
Fiber zibethicus Linnzeus. 
Muskrat. 
PLATE 25. 
Length 24 inches. Thick-set like an enormous meadow mouse, 
legs short, tail compressed laterally, nearly naked and scaly. Fur 
