226 GNAWING ANIMALS 



islands, and on as far north as man has ever gone on land. 

 It prefers open, dry, moss-covered uplands, and is not found 

 in timbered regions. Often a district of acceptable ground 

 is covered with a wide-spreading network of runways, just 

 below the surface. Mr. C. H. Townsend, who has kept them 

 in captivity, says they are kind-spirited and sociable little 

 creatures, fond of attention, and much given to standing up 

 and hopping about on their hind legs. In summer they store 

 up supplies of vegetable food in their runways for use in 

 winter. 



The Lemming Mouse, or False Lemming, is interest- 

 ing chiefly because it is a connecting link between the true 

 lemmings and the mice. Its ears are very small, and do not 

 rise above the fur on the head. The type species, known as 

 Cooper's Lemming Mouse, 1 is only two-fifths the size of the 

 Hudson Bay Lemming. It inhabits the northeastern LTnited 

 States, from Massachusetts to Minnesota, and southward 

 to North Carolina, Tennessee, Indiana, and Iowa. Its 

 color above is yellowish brown washed with black, with 

 bluish-gray or whitish under-parts. Length, 334 to 4 inches ;- 

 tail, % inch. Other species of Lemming Mice inhabit 

 Canada, Labrador, New Hampshire, Washington, Kansas, 

 and Alaska. 



The Field Mouse, or Meadow Mouse, 2 stands as a 

 murine monument to scientific endeavor. Since 1798 the 

 genus of this group — long known as Ar-vic'o-la — has been 

 described under twenty-four different names, and the type 

 species has received nineteen names besides its own! But, 



1 Synaptomys cooperi. 2 Microtus pennsylvanicus. 



