298 HODOMYS. MICROTUS. 
Color. Above dull fulvous, mixed with black; face gray; under 
parts whitish and washed with fulvous, the latter sometimes re- 
stricted to sides of belly; tail above blackish, beneath whitish; fore 
and hind feet white. 
Measurements. Total length, 380; tail vertebre, 166; hind foot, 
38; ear, 29. Skull: total length, 47; basal length, 41; Hensel, 39; 
zygomatic width, 25; length of crowns of upper molar series, 9. 
The Subfamily MicroTIn& contains the Meadow Mice of North 
America. In general, these troublesome creatures (for they prove 
to be great pests to the agriculturalist) inhabit low, swampy meadows, 
near streams, along the banks of which their narrow runways can 
readily be seen amid the grass; but others again are found in lofty 
mountainous districts, and still others on thirsty plains. Small in 
size, dark of pelage, and quick of movement, they are difficult to see 
in the usually thick grass amid which they live, as their rather 
stubby forms pass quickly before the observer. They make their 
nests in burrows and are very prolific. From the true mouse they 
are distinguishable by a short tail and legs, short, blunt muzzle, and 
ears buried in the fur. There are numerous species and races, some 
of the latter separated on such fine lines as to be practically indis- 
tinguishable, and the entire group is divided into several subgeneric 
sections, based mainly on the differences in the structure of the 
teeth. These animals are the representatives in North America of 
the voles of Europe. The species on the American Continent are 
most numerous north of the United States and Mexican boundary line. 
Subfam. III. Microtine. Meadow Mice, Voles, ete. 
60. Microtus. 
l.—; iM = 16. 
I mS) 
G. S. Miller. Genera and Subgenera of Voles and Lemmings. N. 
Am. Faun., 1896, No. 12. 
V. Bailey. Revision of the American Voles of the genus Microtus. 
N. Am: Fawn.; 1900, No. r7. 
Microtus Schrank, Faun. Boica, 1, 1st Abth., 1798, p. 72. Type Mus 
arvalis Pallas. 
Arvicola Lacép., Mém. 1’Instit.,. 1801, 111, p. 495. 
Mynomes Rafin., Am. Month. Mag., 1817, II, p. 45. 
Psammomys LeConte, Ann. N. Y. Lyc. Nat. Hist., 1830, p. 132. 
(nec Cretzschmer.) 
