196 BULLETIN NO. VII. 



The tubercles on the feet furnish reliable generic, if not 

 specific, characters. There is, in this species, a large pad at 

 the base of the first and second digits of the hind foot; a smaller 

 one lies midway between the third and fourth; the largest one 

 of all is near the base of the fifth digit, while two smaller ones, 

 one on the outside, the other on the inside (the latter farthest 

 back) lie behind them. The under surface of the toes appears 

 scutilate. and the sole is punctate, while all that portion back 

 of the pads is sparsely hairy. The fore foot has five pads, and 

 the thumb nail is spade-shaped. The nasal pads are very small, 

 and the head is blunt and stout, in fact the aspect is, as has 

 been said, very much like that of a field mouse. 



While our information does not permit us to very minutely 

 describe the range of the species, we know of its occurrence in 

 most parts of the state. The following localities may be named : 

 Hinckley, Pine county; Milaca, MilleLacs county; Minneapolis, 

 Hennepin county; Brown's Valley, Traverse county; Ortonville, 

 Big Stone county, and points on the Red and Minnesota rivers. 

 It was not found on the Mississippi at Watab, where Arvicola 

 riparius is very common; nor can it now be found near Minne- 

 apolis, though once common. 



In the eastern part of the United States this variety is found 

 as far south as Massachusetts, and in New York, Michigan and 

 Wisconsin, as well as in Washington. It merges insensibly 

 into the typical H. rutilus to the north, so that to lay down an 

 arbitrary geographical range is impossible. 



The writer has observed these mice very abundant in dense 

 woods running actively from fallen log to stump or brush heap 

 in broad day light, the rusty red color being scarcely distin- 

 guishable from the red sawdust which often forms the soil or 

 the pine needle carpet. The food can only be surmised, but 

 the stomach is quite different from that of Arvicola, being more 

 complicated and it may be presumed that grass seeds do not 

 enter as largely into the diet as in the latter. By the first of 

 April sexual functions are at their hight, the testes measur- 

 ing 0.3. 



The following additional measurements are appended al- 

 though they are not all from fully adult specimens, These are 

 from specimens collected near Big Stone lake on the western 

 line of Minnesota. Although by no means abundant it is not 

 rare in the region of the upper Minnesota: 



