Rar 
540 : SCIENCE. 
on their guard, and forthwith they burrow a 
little deeper. ' 
It is very different with the meadow-haunt- 
ing, star-nosed mole (Condylura cristata). 
This mammal has more complicated burrows 
than those of the”preceding, and often one or 
[Vou. III., No. 
from forty-eight to seventy-two hours, the ordi-— 
nary duration of the high water. If through 
any cause the period of submergence was pro-- 
longed, it is probable that it would prove fatal 
to the moles. . 
The short-tailed shrews (Blarina brevicau- 
THE STAR-NOSED MOLE, CONDYLURA CRISTATA (FIVE-EIGHTHS NATURAL SIZE). 
more openings to them are beneath the sur- 
face of the water. At some point in their 
tangled tunnellings, these moles form commo- 
dious nests, placing a good deal of fine grass 
in them. Here, indifferent to freshets, they 
remain all winter, and, as they can lay up no 
food, sleep, I suppose, through the entire sea- 
Natiund Sore 
THE WHITE-FOOTED MOUSE, HESPEROMYS LEUCOPUS (NATURAL SIZE). 
son. The fact that these moles are unaffected 
by being submerged during the spring freshets 
is an interesting fact. So far as I have ex- 
amined their nests, there was nothing to show 
that they were water-tight ; and I think that the 
animals must have been thoroughly soaked for 
da), on the other hand, which are closely akin 
to the foregoing, are full of life and activity 
all winter. No severity of the weather chills 
their ardor; but this is not to be wondered at. 
Their favorite food is grasshoppers, and these 
are to be had in abundance the season through. 
Every warm day brings hundreds of half- 
erown, wingless grass- 
hoppers to the surface, 
where they move about 
very actively. Feb. 3 of 
this year I found liter- 
ally millions of them hop- 
ping over the dead grass, 
in the meadows, as rest- 
lessly as though it were 
August. The ground was 
frozen, and the sunlight 
had merely dried and 
warmed the tangled mat 
of dead grass upon the 
surface. At various 
points I found the open- 
ings of tunnels, which 
I took to be the path- 
ways of the crepuscu- 
lar shrews, —shy little 
creatures, that towards sunset come to the sur- 
face, and forage during the twilight. 
Omitting reference to the winter habits of 
the familiar squirrels and woodchuck, or mar- 
mot, let us consider briefly the two small 
rodents found here, that are also hibernating 
ee. an ee 
