52 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 
The common meadow-mouse (No. 1) is 644 
inches long, of which the tail takes 134 inches; 
and has eight teats. Its fur is long, overlain 
with coarse black hairs, and in winter almost 
conceals the ears. The usual color above is a 
dark brown, against which the black hairs are 
not conspicuous. This shades off gradually 
into gray or tawny on the under parts. This 
species may be said to inhabit the whole con- 
tinent, though in the mountainous parts of the 
West other species are more numerous and 
conspicuous. 
This mouse has its natural habitat in moist 
meadows and grassy borders of swamps, but it 
habitually extends its range into neighboring 
cultivated fields and waste lands. Nearly all 
meadows are full of the animals. On parting 
the thick grass almost anywhere one can find 
the smooth trails, and where the grass is thin 
they are often plainly visible. After the melt- 
ing of deep snow, or where the dry grass has 
been, burned, the network of runways is espe- 
cially conspicuous to the eye. In swamps the 
paths cross soft mud, and where a green scum 
of minute floating plants covers stagnant 
