200 BULLETIN NO. VII. 
American naturalists are greatly indebted to Dr. Coues for 
the very complete and lucid discussion of the meadow mice of 
America, particularly as respects this common and widely dis- 
tributed species. What otherwise would have been a mere 
suspicion, or, at best, a moral certainty, is by him placed be- 
yond dispute—namely, that the majority of the innumerable 
species related to A. riparius are synonyms pure and simple. 
The difference of opinion which may still exist as to the specific 
validity of those forms which show tangible differences, will be 
comprehensible, and will be founded upon different interpreta- 
tions of facts, and not upon the misunderstanding of facts. 
Arvicola riparius, the common meadow mouse, is perhaps 
the most abundant, as it is the most widely distributed of our 
native mice. It makes its home in the weedy corners of fields, 
along hedge rows, in the close grass of the meadow—any where 
that affords shelter and access to its food. In the autumn 
it leaves its summer habitation and makes a new domicile 
in the corn shocks or grain stacks, or beneath the granaries 
adjoining, showing its appreciation of the thrifty care of the 
farmer by helping him dispose of his harvest. The farmer boy 
enlivens the monotonous task of corn husking by a merry 
scramble after the furry pilferers, as each shock is removed, 
assisted, it may be, by an eager terrier, which tears the large, 
spherical nests with excited haste. 
Allowing for great local or accidental variations, the follow- 
ing description will make the animal recognizable : 
Body four to five inches long, stout; members small, partic- 
ularly the forefeet and tail; head blunt. The forehead is 
curved, the muzzle very blunt and furry, the eyes small, not 
prominent, and placed about half way between the nose and 
ears. The ears are covered with hairs on both sides, and do 
not overtop the fur, having a valve-like antitragus closing the 
opening. The forefeet are small and are employed as prehen- 
sile organs extensively, the animal naturally supporting itself, 
when at rest, upon the hind feet almost exclusively. 
The proportions, as well as the normal size, may be gathered 
from the following measurements, which will be found to be 
very constant in adult specimens from the southern part of 
Minnesota: 
Nose | Nose | Hind] Fore | Spread of! Spread of 
NUMBER. Trunk) Tail. to eye.| to ear.| foot. | foot. | hind legs.| fore legs. 
Tae. (NERO) seers 4.00 | 1.35 | 0.56 | 0.90 | 0.70 | 0.40 3.9 3.25 
76. (Female) ...| 4.30 | 1.40 | 0.45 | 1.00 | 0.70 | 0.40 4.1 3.35 
