FIELD-MICE 



4i 



worms : it stores winter-provisions, and in summer brings forth from four to 

 eight young ones, three or four times during the season, who do not assume their 

 brownish red coats until the following spring. 



short-Tailed The water-rat and the short-tailed field-mice {Microtus), often 



Fieid-Mouse. miscalled voles, may be distinguished from the true rats and mice 



by their rather short hairy tails. They are nearly related to the hamsters, from 



THE LONG-TAILED FIELD-MnrSE. 



which they differ by the structure of their molar teeth, which are either rootless 

 or nearly so ; these teeth in both genera differing widely in character from 

 the simpler molars of the true rats and mice. In the red-backed field-mouse 

 (M. glareolus) the body is 4 inches long, and the tail about half that length ; the 

 coat is brownish red above and greyish at the sides ; the feet are white ; and 

 each ear has a stripe of long hair. There are many varieties of this mouse which 

 differ greatly in colour and dimensions. The species is found in the plains and 

 lower mountain - ranges of Europe, occurring in England, France, Germany, 



