112 CALIFORNIA MAMMALiS. 



above, contracted to a slit below; tail usually longer than head 

 and body, slender, moderately haired. 



Reithrodontomys longicaudus Baird. (Long — tail.) 



LONG-TAILED HARVEST MOUSE. 



Adult; above reddish bistre thickly mixed with black hairs, 

 these usually forming a broad blackish dorsal band; sides with 

 fewer black hairs and more or less tinged with cinnamon ; below 

 grayish white, sometimes tinged with buff; tail indistinctly, bi- 

 color, dusky above, whitish below. Immature ; mouse gra}- above, 

 pale plumbeous below. 



( I consider pallidus Rhoads not separable from longicaudus. 

 If pallidus is recognized as a subspecies at least two more sub- 

 species must be named, but I do not think these slight local 

 differences sufficiently tangible to the worth recognizing). 



Length about 143 mm. (5.63 inches) ; tail vertebras 76 (3) ; 

 hind foot 17 (.67); ear from crown 13 (.51). 



Type locality, Petaluma, California. 



Long-tailed Harvest Mice are found from Lake and Tehama 

 Counties south into northern Lower California; and from the 

 seacoast east into the Sierra Nevada and San Bernardino Moun- 

 tains. They are found in grassy localities. The thicker and 

 older the grass the more abundant the Mice are likelv to be. Ifi a 

 few localities the}- are quite common, but they may be wanting 

 over large areas. They do not appear to go high in the moun- 

 tains, seldom as high as 4,000 feet altitude. 



The food seems to be entirely vegetable, mostlv the seeds, 

 leaves and stems of various plants. The mammae are six in num- 

 ber, two pairs inguineal and one pair pectoral. The >oung are 

 two to four and are born at all times of the year, probably two 

 or three litters annually. 



