4 PROCEEDINGS S. I. ASS'n ARTS AND SCIENCES. [Vol. I 



Notes on a Captive Jumping Mouse. 



On Aug-ust 20th, 1905, while Mr. William T. Davis and I were 

 walking- through the woods, behind the Moravian Cemetery, at New 

 Dorp, something started to hop away through the plants in front of 

 us. I paid no attention to, it, supposing- that it was a wood frog:, of 

 which we saw very many on that day; but Mr. Davis suspected from its 

 persistent jumping;, althong-h it did not clear the tops of low plants in 

 the usual manner, that it mig-ht be a jumping- mouse. We g-ave chase 

 and finally succeeded in catching and transferring- it to a botanical box. 

 It proved to be a female. Since then I have kept it in a g-lass tank with 

 a covering: of wire netting-. I filled the bottom with sand, and put in 

 some twig-s and leaves, from which the mouse constructed a sort of nest. 

 Here it sleeps in the daytime, for it feeds entirely at nigfht. I found 

 that it would eat apple, acorns and bread but preferred banana and 

 chestnuts, so banana has been her principal food. After having; had 

 the mouse a few days, Mr. H. Lang-, of the American Museum of Nat- 

 ural History, took several photographs of her in a box of sticks and 

 leaves. He had great difficulty in keeping- the mouse from running- 

 down off the sticks to hide in the leaves, but althoug-h the box was 

 open on the top and one side she did not attempt to g-et out. The 

 ordinary way of moving about seems to be by means of short hops, 

 long jumps being- made only in case of pursuit or other necessity. 



Two other specimens have been exhibited before the Natural Science 

 Association (Proc. Nat. Set. Assjt. S. /., Dec. 12th, 1885, and May 8th, 

 1897^', neither of which I believe was living. It is probably not un- 

 common on Staten Island but is not often seen because of its nocturnal 

 habits. It stores up food for winter use but sometimes becomes per- 

 fectly torpid at that season. Its long- tail is said to enable it to keep 

 its balance while making its wonderful leaps, which sometimes ex- 

 ceed eig-ht feet in length. 



Specimens Exhibited. 



Geological material from recent excavations at Smoking- Point, near 

 Rossville, presented by Mr. Ira K. Morris, were shown and commented 

 upon by Dr. Arthur HoUick. The material included pieces of crystal- 

 lized pyrite and lig-nite, evidently of Cretaceous age. The latter 

 specimen showed well-defined traces of amber in the interstices. 



Mr. William T. Davis exhibited a mass of "hard pan," consisting of 

 finely consolidated bowlder clay and pebbles, presented by Mr. Samuel 

 R. Brick, Jr., by whom it was collected at the site of Public School 

 No. 16, on Monroe Avenue, Tompkinsville, at a depth of about twelve 

 feet below the street level. 



The meeting then adjo'Jirnsd. 



