70 REPORT OF NEW JERSEY STATE MUSEUM. 



Microtus pinetorum scalopsoides (Audubon & Bachman). 

 Northern Pine Mouse. 

 Plates 23 and 24, Fig. 2. 



Length 6 inches. Uniform rusty brown above, Hghter on the 

 sides, silvery gray beneath. Young individuals, gray above with 

 no reddish tint. Fur short, dense and silky like that of a mole, 

 which character distinguishes this species from any other mouse. 



All over the lowlands of New Jersey, even up to the slopes of 

 the mountains, this mouse is an abundant species. Unhke the 

 meadow mouse, which makes its runways on the surface, this 

 little animal is strictly subterranean, burrowing like a mole just 

 below the surface. Mr. S. N. Rhoads, who has studied the habits 

 of our wild mice very carefully, is confident that this is the most 

 destructive species, doing much of the damage that is usually at- 

 tributed to the meadow mouse or the mole. All sorts of roots, 

 tubers and vegetable seeds planted in the garden are favorite food 

 for this animal, and many a planting has to be done over again on 

 account of his depredations. The pine mouse is not restricted to 

 cultivated grounds as it occurs also sparingly in wooded areas. 



Our pine mouse is a variety of the pine mouse of the south, 

 originally described by Dr. LeConte, the latter differing in the 

 brighter red, less grayish tone of the fur. 



Aruicola pinetonmi Abbott, Cook's Geol. of N. J., 1868, p. 758. 



Microtus pinetonim Rhoads, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., 

 1897, p. 26. 



Microtus pinetorum scalopsoides Rhoads, Mam. Pa. and N. J., 

 1903, p. lOI. 



Genus Fibe;r Cuvier. 

 Muskrats. 



Fiber zibethicus Linnaeus. 



Muskrat. 



Plate 25. 



Length 24 inches. Thick-set like an enormous meadow mouse, 

 legs short, tail compressed laterally, nearly naked and scaly. Fur 



