54 



Cincinnati Society of Natural History. 



Habits. For a description of the habits of this animal in its 

 Pennsylvania haunts, the reader is referred to my paper, above 

 quoted, in the Proceedings of the Philadelphia Academy. 



My experience with the Cave Rat in Kentucky is confined 

 to an unsuccessful attempt to capture them in Mammoth 

 Cave during a visit there in April, 1895, in company with 

 Professor R. E. Call. At that time I examined their rendez- 

 vous and conversed with some of the guides concerning them. 

 Subsequently I received alive an adult male specimen, and 

 studied the habits of the animal in captivity for nearly a month 

 before sacrificing its life to science. More recently an adult 

 female in spirits was sent to me, and these have afforded all 

 the necessary characters by which to fix the status of the rat 

 of Mammoth Cave. Both these specimens were procured by 

 Professor Call and forwarded by him to the Academy of Nat- 

 ural Sciences for identification. 



The only place where I noted evidences of this animal in 

 Mammoth Cave was about a quarter of a mile from the en- 

 trance, in the wide passageway known as The Main Cave. 



Piles of loose stones line the sides of the cavern at this 

 point, and along the foot of the arching walls are strewn the 

 indescribable collection of materials with which this animal 

 is sure to adorn and litter its by-ways. Among these were 

 found the nuts and seeds of various trees and plants growing 

 around the mouth of the cave, showing unmistakably the 

 chief source of their food supply, and that they by no means 

 confine their wanderings to the cave itself. I was unable to 

 find the nests or remains of the rats, but the numberless nar- 

 row passageways, stone heaps, and crevices undoubtedly con- 

 cealed these from search as well as the live animals. Of their 

 numbers it was impossible to get information. The guides 

 rarely see them, and their haunts seem to be largely confined 

 to the particular locality I have mentioned. No instance had 

 come to their (the guides') notice of the rats building a nest 

 openly on the floor of the cave, as has been stated* to be the 

 custom of the same species in the caves of Virginia. 



One of the guides assured me that these rats were by no 

 means confined to the cave, but could be found on the rocky 



* See Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci., Phila., 1894, p. 220. 



2 



