112 



Field-Mice. 



the length of the body; and short, strong limbs. All the species of this 

 group, which are distributed throughout the whole continent, burrow in 



'S**^- 



THE MEADOW-MOUSE {Afvtcola ripario). 



the earth or beneath the roots of a shrub or tussock of grass. They all 

 feed upon grasses, bulbous-roots, seeds, and grains. They do not hiber- 

 nate, but are active through the winter, seeking their food through the 

 deepest snows. Robert Kennicott, who wrote a valuable paper on these 

 vermin in the Patent-office Report for 1856, says, — 



" The greatest mischief done by meadow-mice is the gnawing of bark 

 from fruit-trees. The complaints are constant and grievous, throughout 

 the Northern States, of the destruction of orchard and nurser\' trees by the 

 various species of arvicolce. The entire damage done by them in this way 

 may be estimated, perhaps, at millions of dollars. If any think this too 

 large an estimate, let them inquire, even in a small neighborhood where 

 much attention is paid to fruit-growing, and it will be found, tliat, wherever 

 they abound, the injuries committed by these pests are frequently among 

 the most serious difficulties encountered by the pomologist. This is es- 

 pecially the case at the \\'est, where no care is taken to protect the trees 

 against them ; careless orchardists allowing grass to grow about the roots 

 of their fruit-trees, and thus kindly furnishing the arvicolas with excellent 

 nesting-places in winter, and rendering the trees doubly liable to be girdled. 



