PRAIRIE HARVEST MOUSE 



77 



This little mouse has somewhat the appearance of Goss 's lemming 

 mouse; but the present form is browner above, lighter below, lacks 

 the dusky mark at the base of the whiskers, and has the groove on 

 the upper incisors (front teeth) near the middle of the tooth rather 

 than near the outer edge. In addition, the molars of the upper jaw 

 are furnished with rounded points or tubercles on the crowns ex- 

 tending in two longitudinal rows, in place of the irregular triangles 

 shown in Goss's lemming mouse. 



FIG. 18. Prairie Harvest Mouse. Photo from life by Prank C. Pellett. 



Habits, Distribution, Etc. The harvest mice, to which group the 

 present form belongs, all live in more or less neglected, open, grassy 

 fields and along the edges of cultivated fields. Although they live 

 for the most part above ground, sometimes burrows and crevices are 

 used in which to construct their nests. These nests are built of 

 grasses lined with soft material. The prairie harvest mice sometimes 

 travel in beaten paths of their own making or in runways made by 

 meadow mice. They do .not hibernate and are about both at night 

 and during the day. 



The prairie harvest mouse molts only once a year, in late fall, but 

 marked changes in pelage are to be noted from other causes, namely, 



