116 The Habits of some Arvicoline. [February, 
These examples were taken from the higher part of a steep, 
partially wooded hill. They apparently sought the west and 
south-west sides, where they were found beneath leaves, logs, 
stumps and stones. Upon the covering being suddenly removed 
they appear dazed, affording for an instant an opportunity to cap- 
ture them; should the first attempt prove futile, they seek safety 
in the first available hiding place, but when frightened from here, 
hasten through their labyrinthic underground passages and are 
seldom seen again. 
Of their breeding habits we have noted nothing. Asa rule 
the pine mice winter in a last summer’s nest, which is a round 
ball of blue grass blades, from four to six inches in diameter ; the 
interior is composed of fine grass which is nicely bound together 
with longer blades. The nest is generally placed beneath a pile 
of leaves or an old stump. In winter collecting single specimens 
are generally observed occupying these old nests. ; 
The pine mouse, in winter, lives upon the tender roots of 
young hickories, the young sprouts of the white clover ( Trifolium 
repens), the fruit of the red haw (Crategus coccinea L.) and the 
tuberous roots of the wild violet (Viola cucullata Ait.). The first 
of these he uses for luncheon while excavating his runways. It 
is never found stored in his burrows, but as his passages approach 
these roots they expand, laying bare a large portion of the root 
from which the bark is generally entirely removed. The other 
products we find buried, the latter in numerous deposits, some of 
which contain a gallon of tubers and extend eighteen inches be- 
low the surface of the ground. This latter article evidently forms 
the bulk of their winter food. 
The common meadow mouse (A. riparius) is the most common 
mammal in Southeastern Indiana. It varies in numbers with the 
seasons.. Some years the fence rows of wheat and barley fields 
are traversed by a. network of their runways. In autumn, after 
the frost has cut down the more tender parts of the weeds and 
grass, numbers of these little rodents may be seen darting. here 
and there through their half-covered passages. In winter they 
are warm friends of the farmer who leaves his corn in the shock 
latest. After the early snows have fallen the corn shocks will be 
found thickly colonized by these little pests, who find here not 
only a comfortable residence, but also a well-filled granary from 
which to draw their winter’s food. In spring, when the last snows 
