126 NORTHERN ZOOLOGY. 
[38.] 4. Arvicota Novonoracensis. Sharp-nosed Meadow-Mouse. 
Lemmus Novoboracensis. “ RarinEsQueE, Ann. of Nature,” (quoted from Desmarest, Mamm, p. 286). 
A. (Novoboracensis) naso gracili acuto, auriculis prominulis, caudé squamaté nudiusculd caput mediocre longitudine 
excedenti, corpore super obscuré fusco; subter sordidé murino. 
Sharp-nosed Meadow-Mouse, with ears slightly overtopping the fur, a slightly hairy scaly tail, more than half the 
length of the head, the body above dark brown ; beneath soiled brownish-gray. 
A Meadow-Mouse was observed by Mr. Drummond on the Rocky Mountains, 
inhabiting dry places along withthe Arvicola xanthognathus, and having similar 
habits with that animal. It answers to the short description given of Mr, 
Rafinesque’s Lemmus Novoboracensis ; and although that is not sufficient to prove 
their identity, I have adopted his specific name, to avoid the hazard of loading 
the science with another synonym. 
DESCRIPTION. 
Shape.—The body is thick; the head of a moderate size, tapers from the ears to the 
end of the nose ; the nose is slender and acute when compared with other species of this 
genus, and it projects a little way beyond the incisors. ars rounded, rising slightly above 
the surrounding fur, but they are not very conspicuous, as the hairs on their margins have the 
same colour with those of the head and back. The tail is covered with very short adpressed 
hairs, not close enough to hide the scales ; a few of the hairs converge to a point at the end of 
the tail. The legs are very short, the feet small, and the claws weak and compressed ; avery 
minute nail occupies the place ofathumb. The fur is less fine than that of the Arvicola Penn- 
sylvanicus. On the back it is grayish-black from the roots to near the tips, which are reddish- 
brown, terminated by black. The resulting colour is an intimate mixture of brown and black, 
appearing in some lights dark reddish-brown, in others umber-brown, mixed with black. The 
superior parts of the head have the same colour with the back, except that there is an 
obscure rufous spot beneath the ear. The ventral aspect is yellowish-gray, which mingles on 
the sides with the colour of the back. The feet are dark-gray. The upper surface of the 
tail is liver-brown, the under one grayish-white. 
DIMENSIONS. 
Inches. Lines. Inches. Lines. 
Length of head and body . 6 . 4 3 Length of tail ° > : Bm! 5 
3 head . . 3 5 (ll 4 o longest fur on the back . - 0 & 
Described from a summer specimen, 
