124 NORTHERN ZOOLOGY. 
[37.] 3. Arvicota Pennsytvanicus. (Ord.) Wilson’s Meadow-Mouse. 
Short-tailed Mouse. Forster, Phil. Trans., vol. lxii. p. 380. No. 18. 
Meadow-Mouse. PENNANT’s Arctic Zool., vol. i. p. 1833?* Wiutson, Am. Ornith., vol. vi. p. 9. t. 50. f.3. 
Arvicola Pennsylvanica. ‘‘Ornp, Guthrie’s Geography’ (quoted from Harlan.) Haruan, Fauna, p. 145. 
A. (Pennsylvanicus) rostro obtuso, auriculis vellere subcelatis, cauda bené vestita obtusa dimidium capitis longitudine 
equanti, corpore fusco subter griseo-albo. 
Wilson’s Meadow-Mouse, with an obtuse snout, a blunt hairy tail, half the length of the head, back brown, belly 
nearly white. 
This campagnol was considered by Forster and Pennant to be specifically the 
same with the Meadow-Mouse of the old continent (Mus agrestis, Linn. Mus 
arvalis, PENN. Arvicola vulgaris, Desm.), which it greatly resembles both in 
appearance and habits. It was first described by Wilson, whose specimen, how- 
ever, was half an inch longer than I have ever seen it in the Hudson’s Bay 
countries. This little animal is very abundant from Canada to Great Bear Lake, 
and multiplies with rapidity in the neighbourhood of the trading posts. It seeks 
shelter in the barns and out-houses, where it makes hoards of grain and of the seeds 
of leguminous plants. It is said to be very fond of the bulbous roots of the 
Philadelphia lily; and it does much mischief in gardens by burrowing under 
the drills, and carrying off the seeds. This is the species which is described in 
Captain Franklin’s Journey (p. 660), under the name of Arvicola xanthognatha. 
DESCRIPTION. 
The body and head have conjointly a short oval shape. The head is large, with an obtuse 
nose, and the lips are clothed with very short hairs. Margins of the nostrils and the septum 
naked ; upper lip very slightly cleft; a hairy patch on the inside of the mouth. Incisors 
yellow, dentition precisely similar to that of the Arvic. xanthognathus. Eyes small; whiskers 
about as long as the head, of a brownish-colour approaching to black at their roots, 
Ears large, with a wide auditory opening, protected by a large rounded tragus. External ear 
erect, oval, rounded above, thin and membranous, clothed with a few short hairs; it is 
nearly six lines high, but is hid by the fur. The tail is cylindrical, and is thickly 
clothed with short adpressed hairs, a few of which project beyond the obtuse extremity, 
but they can scarcely be said to form a pencil or tuft. The extremities are short, and 
* There seems to be some mistake in Pennant’s having ascribed the dimensions of six inches to this Meadow-Mouse. 
He quotes Buffon, who describes his specimen as little more than half that size. 
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