84 



ORDERS OP MAMMALS— GNAWING ANIMALS 



TYPICAL NORTH AMERICAN MICE AND RATS (north of Mexico). 



COMMON NAME OF 

 GENUS. 



SCIENTIFIC NAME. 



APPROXIMATE 

 NUMBER OF 



MOUSE 

 AND RAT 

 FAMILY. 



(Mu'ri-dae.) 



THE CHEEK- 

 POUCHED 

 FAMILY OF 

 MICE AND 



RATS. 



(Het-e-ro-my'i- 



dae.) 



JUMPING 



MOUSE 



FAMILY. 



(Za-pod'i-dae.) 



Muskrat, .... 

 Lemming, . . . 

 Lemming Mouse, . 

 Field Mouse, . . 



I Red-Backed Mouse, 



Vole, 



Wood Rat, . . . 

 I Harvest Mouse, 

 I Rice-Field Mouse, 

 Cotton Rat, . . . 

 White-Footed Mouse 

 Grasshopper Mouse, 

 Domestic Rat, . . 



Subfamily of the 

 Pocket Mice, . . 



(Species small.) 

 I Subfamily of the 

 Kangaroo Rats, 



(Species larger.) 



Jumping Mouse, 



Fi'ber, 



1. Di-crost'o-nyx, . . 



2. Syn-ap'to-mys, . 



3. Mi-crot'us (Ar-vic'- 



o-la), . . . . 



4. E-vot'o-mys, . . 



5. Phe-nac'o-mys, . 



6. Ne-o-to'ma, . . . 



7. Reith-ro-don'to-mys, 

 S. O-ryz'o-mys, . . . 

 9. Sig'mo-don, . . 



10. Per-o-mys'cus, . . 



11. 0-ny-cho'mys, . . 

 Mus, 



12. Per-og-na'thus, . 



13. Mi-cro-dip'o-dops, . 



(14. Di-pod'o-mys, . . 

 I 15. Per-o-di'pus, . . 



TYPE SPECIES. 



zi-beth'i-cus, . . 

 hud-so'ni-us, . . 

 coop'er-i, . . . 



penn-syl-van'i-cus, 

 gap'per-i, . 

 o-ro'phi-lus, 

 flor-i-dan'a, 

 le-cont'i, . . 

 pa-lus'tris, . 

 his'pi-dus, . 

 leu-co'pus, . 

 leu'co-gas-ter, 

 nor-veg'i-cus, 



Jas-ci-a'tus, . . 

 meg-a-ceph'a-lus, 



mer'ri-am-i, 

 rich'ard-son-i, , 



SPECIES. SPECIES. 



4 

 3 



8 



48 

 17 



7 

 17 

 10 



2 



3 



42 

 6 

 4 



26 

 1 



5 

 9 



16. Za'pus, 



hud-so'ni-us, 



10 

 256 



5 

 1 



IS 

 5 



19 

 6 

 3 

 5 



27 

 6 



15 



10 

 145 



habits are strictly aquatic. The tail furnishes 

 the motive power for swimming. The feet are 

 small, and but very slightly webbed, and the body 

 is completely covered with soft, brown fur an 

 inch or more in length, which is much sought by 

 furriers. When taken at the best season, plucked, 

 dressed and dyed a rich brown-black, it is known 

 to the trade as "French seal." 



Muskrats that inhabit streams with high banks 

 do not trouble themselves to build houses, but 

 merely burrow into the banks. In rivers and 

 ponds with low margins, however, they gather 

 coarse grass, reeds and mud, and build dome- 

 shaped houses, about five feet in diameter, which 

 rise from two to four feet above the water. All 

 such houses are entered below the surface of the 

 water, so far down that ice does not close their 

 doors, and within there is a floor raised well above 

 the water, on which the inmates eat their food, 

 and sleep. 



When too many captive Muskrats are kept in 



the same enclosure, say twelve in a fenced pool 

 thirty feet square, they fight viciously, and not 

 only kill each other, but sometimes partly de- 

 vour one of the victims. Although often dis- 

 puted, it is nevertheless a fact that they eat flesh 

 on very slight provocation. They are very un- 

 satisfactory animals to keep in captivity, no mat- 

 ter what the conditions may be. 



The Hudson Bay Lemming 1 is worthy of 

 special notice, because it is the most widely- 

 distributed and noteworthy rat-like animal of 

 the far North. It is strictly a mammal of the. 

 cold northland, and like many other arctic ani- 

 mals, its winter coat is pure white, and its fur is 

 dense and warm. Among the west Alaskan 

 Eskimo, skins are very common, and the children 

 delight in using them for doll clothes. (Charles 

 H. Townsend.) 



This animal is about the size of a large mole, 

 1 Dicrostonyx hudsonius. 



