292 DAYS OUT OF DOORS. 



tion does not suggest as marked leaping powers. I recent- 

 ly chased one over the smooth rocks of Brush Creek, in 

 southern Ohio, where I could mark and measure its tracks 

 as it sped oyer the mud-coated stones. Its leaps varied 

 from two to three feet, and once, hounding over a shallow 

 pool, the distance cleared was a few inches more than a 

 yard. 



Brayton, in his report on the mammals of Ohio, says 

 of the jumping mouse, the " kangaroo-like structure en- 

 ables this little animal to take enormous leaps, of even 

 eight to ten feet when alarmed," and I have found this 

 true of the species in New Jersey. Early one morning, 

 during the summer just gone, I noticed in a clover stub- 

 ble a great commotion, in which a hen that had her 

 chicks with her was the only visible participant. Sus- 

 pecting that a weasel might have attacked her brood, I 

 approached without due caution — something a np,turalist 

 should never do — and was startled when quite near to 

 see a small mammal give a sudden bound into the air and 

 reach the ground again at a surprising distance. I knew 

 of no other creature possessing like jactatorial power, and 

 pronounced it a jumping mouse. A very hard chase, di- 

 rectly afterward, proved that I was correct. To make an 

 accurate measurement of this creature's initial leap was 

 not practicable, but certain mullein stalks from which it 

 started and at which it landed led me to believe that the 

 distance was little if anything less than nine feet. 



Of course such jumping is unusual, but I noticed that 

 while I pursued the same mouse, it several times gave sur- 

 prising leaps, after running in a zigzag course for some 

 distance. It appeared to be able to leap only when it 

 reached ^some spot peculiarly adapted to the act — a lay of 

 the land, as it were, that took the place of a spring-board. 

 I say, it " appeared so " ; but in all such matters one can 

 not safely express an opinion unless based upon a series of 



