WILD LIFE OF ORCHARD AND FIELD 



either the common meadow-mouse (Microtus penn- 

 sylvanicus) or of the Southerly pine -mouse (Mi- 

 crotus pinetoruni) ; and that in the Mississippi 

 Valley he may find the ''peppery-gray/' yellow- 

 bellied prairie vole {Microtus aiisterus). 



These meadow-mice are the " homeliest " of their 

 tribe. Their coats are coarse in texture and dull 

 in hue, the pine-mouse alone showing anything 

 in the wa^^ of decided color — a warm chestnut. 

 Their bodies are heavy, heads large, noses bluntly 

 rounded, eyes and ears small, and feet and tail 

 short — the latter hardly touching the ground. 

 The common species is five and one-half inches 

 long, including the tail (one and one-quarter inches), 

 and the pine-mouse is four and three-quarter inches 

 in total length. Thej^ are, indeed, like diminutive 

 muskrats, and it is not surprising to find their 

 favorite haunts to be swampy places and lowlands 

 bordering streams. 



Closely related to these, but more creatures of 

 the forest, are the red-backed mice {Evotomys 

 gapperi) of the northern tier of the States and 

 Canada. Its form and size are those of the mead- 

 ow vole, but the back is distinctly chestnut red 

 and the sides are yellowish, while the ears and 

 whiskers are much longer. Its habitat is among 



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