I ro Field- Mice. 



" buck -mouse," " long-tailed deer-mouse," and other appellations suggestive 

 of leaping. In its general habits, it is probably the least destructive of all 

 the mice ; for, besides being less numerous than the others, its food consists 

 almost entirely of the seeds of wild plants and weeds. 



Though my limits are brief, I will present a little account of its character- 

 istics. In escaping from pursuit, the jumping-mouse usually progresses 

 rapidly by a series of long jumps, often clearing four or five feet at a leap : 

 these leaps are made so rapidly, and in such uncertain directions (usually 

 zigzag, like the flight of a snipe), that it is very difficult to catch it. It 

 walks on all-fours, like a common mouse, when not alarmed; and often will, 

 in escaping, double on its tracks, and steal away through the grass, crouch- 

 ing close to the ground. This species, when in the woods, digs its burrow 

 usually beneath a stump or log : this burrow is not ver}' deep or compli- 

 cated, usually having but one passage. In the fields it builds a nest, some- 

 times in a tussock of grass, or beneath a stone, or perhaps in a pile of 

 rubbish. It sometimes lays up a winter-store of seeds and grains: but it 

 usually hibernates, although not in an entirely torpid state, it being almost 

 always active on being discovered. 



I once, in the winter-season, while cutting up a partially-decayed stump, 

 found a nest with a pair of these little animals : the nest was made of 

 grass and leaves; but there was no store of seeds or grain. "Whether or 

 not the shock of the axe splitting the wood awoke them, they were lively, 

 and soon escaped by their long leaps. The jumping-mouse is not ver\' 

 prolific, bringing forth but three or four at a birth but once or twice a year. 

 I have given this rather full description of the habits of this animal, because 

 there is a great confusion in the accounts of some other writers ; many de- 

 scribing it as being torpid through the winter ; others contradicting them, 

 saying it is active through the year. 



In the sub-family murinae are included the genus AIus^ comprehending 

 the common brown or Norway rat, and the brown mouse or house mouse, 

 whose habits are so well known, that they need no description here : and 

 the genus Hcsperomys and Neotoma, the former of which is the most inter- 

 esting to the rural economist. The prominent characteristics of this genus 

 are a moderate-sized head, pointed to the muzzle ; large eyes : large, 

 rounded, and nearly naked ears; and a long, cylindrical tail. 



