MAMMALS OF PENNSYLVANIA AND NEW JERSEY. 97 



longer and relatively wider, with flattened, less rounded, angulation of the 

 enamel folds. The hind foot of gapperi averages ij^ mm. shorter than in 

 rhoadsi. 



Specimens examined. — Atlantic Co., May's Landing, 8 ; Burlington Co., 

 Bear Swamp, near Medford, 3 ; Camden Co., Ancora, 3 ; Cape May Co., 

 Tuckahoe, 7; Cumberland Co., near Port Norris, 7; Mauricetown, 5. 



Genus Microius Schrank, Fauna Boica, 1798, vol. i, p. 72. 



Pennsylvania Meadow Vole, or Common Meadow Mouse. Microtus 

 pennsylvanicus ( Ord ) . 



181 5. Mus pennsylvanicus Ord, Guthrie's Geography, 2d Amer. Edition, 

 vol. 2, p. 292. 



1895. ^' Sjcrotus^^ pennsylvanicus Rhoads, American Naturalist, vol. 29, p. 

 940. 



Type locality. — Meadows below Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Probably on 

 "The Neck." 



Faunal distribution. — Abundant in neglected fields and marshes and along 

 borders of woodland in the lower Canadian, transition and upper austral 

 zones ; Atlantic Ocean and Mississippi Valley, St. Lawrence Valley and Great 

 Lakes to Virginia and the Ohio Valley. 



Distribution in Pa. and N.J. — Cosmopolitan in all open situations beyond 

 the forest confines, in both states. 



Habits, History, etc. — This species is apparently so abundant and its habitat 

 so much less concealed than that of our other small mammals it is by far the 

 best known, in a popular sense, of any. There are, however, many mistaken 

 ideas current about this species, even among so-called students of nature and 

 scientific observers. Especially is this the case in regard to its economic 

 status. In order to bring this subject to public notice, I published the re- 

 sults of my field observations made during several years' study of this mouse, 

 both as a farmer and as a collector of specimens for scientific purposes. The 

 publications referred to are summed up in an article in the "American Natur- 

 alist," of August, 1898, pp. 571 to 581. From this I will make the following 

 extracts : 



" Let us take the most flagrant case of a so-called noxious mammal, one 

 which forms the bulk of the food of several of our hawks and owls which are 

 nowadays rightly classed as the farmer's friends. The common vole, or 

 meadow mouse {Microtus pennsylvanicus), belonging to the same subfamily 

 of rodents as the northern lemming, is rated by nearly all who know him as 

 the incarnation of agricultural pests. On this standard, and this alone, have 

 Drs. Warren, Fisher, and Merriam based their verdict of the economic value 



