210 Fretp Museum or Naturat History — Zo6éxocy, Vou. XI. 
Red-backed Mouse (Evotomys gappert).. 
western counties. Mr. Snyder has a specimen in his collection from 
Dodge Co., and there is a specimen in the collection of Dr. H. V. Ogden, 
taken at Oak Creek, Milwaukee Co., but according to Jackson, in the 
interior of the state it is rarely found south of Columbia Co. (J. c., p. 
22.) It has not’ been recorded from Illinois. 
Regarding the habits of this species Dr. C. Hart Merriam writes: 
“The Wood Mouse is terrestrial, like the other members of the Arv- 
coline series, and commonly lives in burrows in the ground. It some- 
times makes regular runways similar to those of the field: mouse, but 
usually travels freely over the surface, not confining itself to any pre- 
scribed course. It is both diurnal and nocturnal. I have shot it at 
noonday, scampering over the leaves in the deep woods, and dodging 
in and out between the rocks of a lake shore. I have also seen it after 
dark in shanties and in log-houses; and have caught many during the 
night in traps baited with beech nuts and meat. Its ordinary gait is 
a moderately fast trot; I have never seen it proceed in leaps. Still, it 
runs swiftly for a short distance and its quick movements render it 
difficult to capture. 
“The nest of the Red-backed Mouse is usually, in this region, 
placed in a burrow in the earth, though it is sometimes found in a half 
decayed log, or under the roots of a stump. I have shot females, each 
