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grain-reaper divested of its grain-apron— a machine often used before 

 the day of the light mowing machines. These burrows are not very 

 deep, rarely extending to the bottom of the hills, which were from twelve 

 to fifteen inches high, and from three to six feet across. The nest is of 

 fine grass, placed in one of the enlarged, numerous channels of which 

 the burrow is composed. The nests are round bunches of grass, with a 

 small cavity in the center and a small pa,ssage leading to it. Here the 

 first litter, at least, is produced. Similar nests are found in the grass, 

 however, containing young, in the 'summer and fall. 



Burrows, nests, and runways are mad.i by this species under the snow 

 in winter, These runways are also made on the ground, from burrow to 

 burrow. They are scarcely noticeable, as they are covered with the 

 overarching grass, and yet they are more abundant, proportionally, than 

 the streets and alleys of a populous city. Along these runways they seek 

 their food, which consists of seeds, roots, and grasses. Mr. Kennicott 

 found in the deepest part of one of the excavations, in November, five 

 or six quarts of the round tubers of two species of Blazing Star (Liatris), 

 roots of Helianthus, grasses, and several bulbs of wild onions. ThB 

 fleshy roots of the upland Rosin weeds, or Compass plant {Silphium laci- 

 natum), are freely eaten by this species. These roots are often four or five 

 inches in diameter, and yet tender enough to be easily cut by a good 

 ploughshare. I have often found them gnawed into irregulir 8h^.pes, 

 probably by this species. 



When corn is cut in the autumn, a pair of these Mice will inhabit a 

 shock, making a barrow under it, and collecting quantities of corn in 

 the burrow. This is done in winter and spring, as well as in autumn. 

 They are not gregarious; two pairs are never found in the -iame hole. 

 They soon become reconciled to confinement, rarely attempting to gnaw 

 out. Those kept by Mr. Kennicott were omnivorous, eating raw fresh 

 meat, hickorynuts, leaves, and roots of garden plants, grain and vegeta- 

 bles, in enormous quantities. Three ate, in one day, besides other food, 

 the germs from all the kernels of a gocd-sized ear of corn. In eating, 

 they grasped the food in their fore paws, which are used as hands, with 

 all the facility of a Squirrel. The food is cut in small pieces by the in- 

 cisors, and then ground by the molars. In digging, the earth is exca- 

 vated with ,the fore feet, and thrown back by the hind feet ; the dirt is 

 pushed aside with the nose, and also frequently loosened with the teeth. 

 They sometimes dug horizontally, lying on the back, and in removing 

 the earth from an extended burrow, would come out backwards, throwing 

 back the earth with both front and back feet. 



Regarding the carnivorous propensities and ferocious habits of this 

 species, I copy the following from Mr. Kennicott's personal observations : 



