THE RED-BACKED MEADOW MOUSE 



133 



THE RED-BACKED MEADOW MOUSE. 



The side view gives some idea of the approximation to the True 



Mouse type. 



It must be admitted, however, that 

 the Red-backed Meadow Mouse pre- 

 sents a somewhat indeterminate appear- 

 ance- owing to his resemblance, on the 

 one hand to the True Mouse type, 

 and on the other hand to the Meadow 

 Mouse t3'pe. In many respects he forms 

 a connecting hnk between them, and 

 this, no doubt, has frequently led to his 

 confusion with one or the other. 



His resemblance to the former (to a 

 Long-tailed Field Mouse, for example) 

 may be seen in his comparatively 

 sharp muzzle, in his outstanding ears, 

 in his estimable length of tail, and 

 in his wiry, clean-cut limbs. 

 His habits accord pretty 

 closely with his appearance. 

 He is a bold, hardy, active 

 Mouse, who shows a decided 

 preference for made ground 

 in the neighbourhood of 

 human habitations, who is 

 prompt to take advantage 

 of winter sunshine, who can 

 climb and jump and run 

 with the best, and who will 

 show his natural audacity 

 by the careless fashion in 

 which he enters a trap, and 

 by the devil-may-care air 

 which he adopts in cap- 

 tivity. I have caught the 

 same individual seventeen 

 times in two days, and he 

 showed no hesitation in leav- 

 ing the trap for my hand, 



and jumping to ground from the 

 end of my outstretched ami. 

 I have often released them on 

 to a branch in the hedgerow, 

 in which case they usually 

 ]ierform their toilet, and take 

 a meal off the leaves, before 

 descending to earth. Different 

 individuals show different de- 

 grees of boldness ; but as a 

 rule, like the Long-tailed Field 

 Mouse, and unlike the Short- 

 tailed Meadow Mouse, they are 

 easily tamed. 



Apart from these external 

 features, there are certain pecu- 

 liarities of the skull in which 

 the Red-backed Meadow Mouse 

 closely approaches the True 

 Mouse type. 



For the proper appreciation of these, 

 and of the influence which they seem to 

 have on his diet, it will be necessary to 

 refer briefly to mouse-skulls in general. 



If the reader will pass a finger from the 

 outer corner of his eye towards the open- 

 ing of his ear, he will feel a ridge of bone 

 which curves out perceptibly from the side 

 of his head. This is called the zygomatic 

 arch. In many animals, owing to the 

 prominence of the face-portion of the 

 head at the expense of the brain-portion, 

 the zygomatic arch forms a remarkable 

 feature of the skull, and when, as is the 



THE KED-BACKED MEADOW MOUSE. 



