132 CALIFORNIA MAMMALS. 



Length about 140 mm. (5.50 inches); tail vertebrae 42 

 (1.65); hind foot 17 (.67). 



Type locality, Astoria, Oregon. 



Oregon Meadow-Mice frequent dry open ground under cover 

 of grass, or of logs in open forest from Humboldt Bay to Puget 

 Sound. 



Genus Fiber CuviER. (Beaver.) 

 Size, largest of the family ; skull strong, angular, very nar- 

 row between the orbits ; molars rooted ; basal part of lower incisor 

 passing on tongue side of the first and second molars and on the 

 outer side of third; parietals and interparietal very small; hind 

 feet large, partly webbed, capable of being turned obliquely in 

 swimming; tail long, widened perpendicularly and fringed with 

 stiff hairs on the edges, the sides being nearly bare; underfur 

 dense. 



Fiber zibethecus pallidus Mearns. (Civet like; palln:.) 



PALE MUSKRAT. 



General color above light glossy chestnut; sides russet; lower 

 parts grayer; underfur light plumbeous. 



Length about 445 mm. (17.50 inches) ; tail vertebrae 195 

 (7.70) ; hind foot 68 (2. 67) ; ear from crown 16.5 (.65). 



Type locality. Fort Verde, Arizona. 



Pale Muskrats live along the Colorado River and its tribu- 

 taries, but are not plentiful. They live in the banks of the main 

 river and also in the banks of ponds and old channels containing 

 still water. Muskrats have been reported from Carson River irt 

 Nevada, and they may cross the State line into the few suitable 

 places in the upper part of the valley. I ami quite sure that I 

 have seen a reference to their occurrence in the Sacramento Val- 

 ley, but I am unable to find it or recall the particulars. 



I found Pale Muskrats in a small lake above Needles, on the 

 Arizona side, but they were very few in number. On the Califor- 



