CHEEK-POUCH MICE AND RATS 



91 



mice escaped into the sage-brush. Near by stood 

 an old-fashioned buggy. 



Next morning, when the photographer lifted 

 the cushion of his buggy-seat, and opened the 

 top of the shallow box underneath, the five mice, 

 with their heads together in a droll-looking group, 

 looked out at him in surprise and curiosity, with- 

 out attempting to run away. But very soon it 

 became our turn to be surprised. 



We found that those industrious little creatures 

 had gathered up every particle of their nest, and 

 every seed of their winter store, and carried all 

 of it up into the seat of that buggy! The nest 

 had been carefully re-made, and the seed placed 

 closed by, as before. Considering the number 

 of journeys that must have been necessary to 

 carry all those materials over the ground, and 

 climb up to the buggy-seat, the industry and 

 agility of the mice were amazing. 



By way of experiment, we again removed the 

 nest, and while the mice once more took to the 

 sage-brush, we collected all the seed, and poured 

 it in a pile upon the ground, as before. During 

 the following night, those indomitable little creat- 

 ures again carried nest and seed back into the 

 buggy-seat, just as before. Then we gathered 

 up the entire family of mice with their nest and 

 seed, and transported them to New York. 



The Grasshopper Mouse, 1 originally de- 

 scribed by Audubon and Bachman as the Mis- 

 souri Mouse, and often called the Mole Mouse, 

 is mentioned in order to caution western observ- 

 ers against confusing it with the preceding species. 

 In some respects it strongly resembles the white- 

 footed mouse, being all white underneath, in- 

 cluding its legs. It can readily be distinguished 

 by its large fore claws and its short, stumpy tail, 

 which is only about one-third as long as the head 

 and body. Its upper surface is brownish-gray. 

 Its fur is very fine and soft, and hence it is some- 

 times called the Mole Mouse. Its length, head 

 and body, is 4£ inches, tail, If inches. 



CHEEK-POUCH MICE AND RATS. 



Heteromyidae. 

 This is strictly a Family of the West and South- 

 west, its members being found only west of Ar- 

 kansas, Iowa and Minnesota. It does not contain 

 the pocket gophers. Many of its twenty-six spe- 

 1 Onychomys leucogaster. 



KANGAROO RAT. 



Showing the very large cheek- 

 pouches. 



cies are desert dwellers, even inhabiting Death 

 Valley, California. All its members are distin- 

 guished from other North American animals 

 (except the jumping mouse and pocket gopher) 

 by the presence of a large and very serviceable 

 hair-lined pouch in the skin of each cheek. 

 Barring the two exceptions noted, this char- 

 acter alone is sufficient for the recognition of any 

 American member of this Family. 



As clearly shown in the full-page diagram, 

 this family may 

 be divided into 

 two Subfamilies, 

 an arrangement 

 which is very 

 convenient and 

 helpful. The first 

 we must call the 

 Pocket Mouse 

 Subfamily and 

 its leading genus 

 (Per -og-na' thus) 

 contains twenty- 

 six full species, 

 and fifteen sub- 

 species. All are 

 distinguished by the following characters: head 

 large ; body slender and graceful ; hind legs long, 

 and fitted for jumping; tail long; large external 

 cheek pouches, hairy inside, and not connected 

 with the interior of the mouth ; hair smooth and 

 compact, sometimes intermingled with spines. 

 These mice are quick and active in movement, 

 and some species leap with considerable power. 



Since 1839 the Typical Pocket Mouse 2 has 

 been described again and again, but none of its 

 describers have taken the trouble to give it an 

 English name! Hereafter, let us call it by the 

 name given above, because it is the type of its 

 genus. It inhabits Montana, Wyoming and the 

 Dakotas. Its color above is sandy-yellowish, 

 lined with black; underneath, white; and these 

 two color areas are divided low down along the 

 side by a lengthwise band of pale yellow. Length, 

 3 + 2f inches. 



The Kangaroo Rat 3 Subfamily, of fifteen full 

 species, is fitly represented by an elf-like creat- 

 ure which is one of the most beautiful and at- 



2 Perognathus fasciatus. 



3 Typical species, Perodipus richardsoni of west- 

 ern Kansas, Oklahoma and Indian Territory. 



