NOVEMBER. 287 



f ul for outdoor occupations. Too cool, perhaps — Indian 

 summer on ice ; but not disagreeable to take. Late in the 

 afternoon, a cozily nesting jumping mouse was exhumed 

 from a high knoll on one of the upland fields. The ani- 

 mal was in a globular nest of closely interwoven grass, and 

 this was about six inches from the surface. 



As in all cases that hare come to my knowledge, the 

 position was such that under ordinary circumstances the 

 nest would remain dry, although at such an inconsiderable 

 depth. But the creatures do not always make a wise 

 choice in this all-important matter, as we hare already 

 seen, for the freshets sometimes wash the earth away from 

 their retreats, and the occupants are drowned, often with- 

 out previously being roused to consciousness. 



In the locality examined to-day, the ordinary autumn 

 saturation of the soil would, of itself, not penetrate the 

 thick mat of grass that filled the burrow, and the ground 

 freezing early in the winter would thereby further pro- 

 tect the nest from protracted rainfalls and the soaking 

 arising from the melting of snow. So far as I have been 

 able to determine, open winters, with alternating freezing 

 and thawing and rain instead of snow, are more destruct- 

 ive to these mammals than steady cold, however intense 

 or prolonged. Indeed, the latter condition can never 

 prove hurtful, so long as the hibernacula remain undis- 

 turbed. Hence the greater abundance of the species 

 farther north (?). 



This curious kangaroo-like creature is certainly not 

 favorably constructed for elaborate burrowing. The fore 

 feet are weak, and the fore limbs too short, or so it seems ; 

 and yet the winter quarters of the specimen found to-day 

 were neatly arranged, and the more interesting from the 

 fact that it is not very clear how the hibernating chamber 

 had been constructed. There was no evidence, such as 

 loose dirt or a hole in the surface of the ground. Had 



