90 WHITE, OR BARN OWL. 



of winter, resort to tlie meadows below Philadelpliia, and to the marshes 

 along the seashore, for the purpose of feeding on these little animals, 

 some account of them may not be improper in this place. Fig. 3 repre- 

 sents the Meadow-mouse drawn by the same scale, viz. reduced to one- 

 half its natural dimensions. This species appears not to have been taken 

 notice of by Turton, in his translation of Gmelin's Linnaeus. From the 

 nose to the insertion of the tail it measures four inches ; the tail is be- 

 tween three-quarters and an inch long, hairy, and usually curves up- 

 wards ; the fore feet are short, five-toed, the inner toe very short, but 

 furnished with a claw ; hind feet also five-toed ; the ears are shorter 

 than the fur, through which, though large, they are scarcely noticeable ; 

 the nose is blunt ; the color of the back is dark brown, that of the belly 

 hoary ; the fur is long and extremely fine ; the hind feet are placed very 

 far back, and are also short ; the eyes exceeding small. This mischiev- 

 ous creature is a great pest to the meadows, burrowing in them in every 

 direction ; but is particularly injurious to the embankments raised along 

 the river, perforating them in numerous directions, and admitting the 

 water, which afterwards increases to dangerous breaches, inundating large 

 extents of these low grounds, and thus becoming the instruments of their 

 own destruction. In their general figure they bear great resemblance 

 to the common musk-rat, and, like them, swim and dive well. They 

 feed on the bulbous roots of plants, and also on garlic, of which they are 

 remarkably fond.* 



Another favorite prey of most of our Owls is the bat, one species of 

 which is represented at fig. 4, as it hung during the day in the woods 

 where I found it. This also appears to be a nondescript. The length 

 of this bat, from the nose to the tip of the tail, is four inches ; the tail 

 itself is as long as the body, but generally curls up inwards ; the general 



* As Wilson conjectured, this animal was a nondescript. It being a Campagnol, 

 it may be classed under the name of Arvicala Pennsi/lvanicus ; as it is the same 

 animal which was introduced into my catalogue of Mammalia, under that trivial 

 denomination. As far as our information extends, the female brings forth only (wo 

 young at a litter. Her two teats are inguinal; and the young, by holding on to 

 them, are transported by the mother whithersoever she goes — that is, when they 

 are inclined to accompany her; when dragged along, their position is between her 

 hind legs ; and she can run with them hanging to her, as stated, with considerable 

 swiftness. 



Dr. Leach, in the Zoological Miscellany, vol. i., p. 60, figured and described a 

 Campagnol, which had been received from Hudson's Bay. This animal, which was 

 named A. zanthngnatha, has been mistaken, by some naturalists, for the present 

 species, which is not half its size: the Fulvous-cheeked Campagnol measures, from 

 the tip of its nose to the base of its tail, at least nine inches, whilst the admeasure- 

 ment of ours is not more than four inches. Dr. Leach's description is too imper- 

 fect: it lacks those details which are essential in discriminating species. The size 

 of his animal we infer from bis figure, which he says is ''rather less than half of 

 the natural size." — G. Ord. 



i 



