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THE AMEBIC AN NATURALIST [Vol. XLVIII 



BosTonS-nmoH. 



Ghmt s. 



There was no evidence of any attempt at storing away a 

 supply of food, although there was ample opportunity. 

 This habit of storing food is mentioned by Hornaday 13 

 who says : 



In the autumn it stores in the ground quantities of food for winter 

 use, but despite this fact, under certain conditions, it becomes so thor- 

 oughly dormant in winter that it seems to be quite lifeless. 



According to Seton, 8 



It is quite ready to respond at any time to any spell of unusually fine, 

 unseasonable weather, even in the depths of winter, and it is probably 

 for these arousing times, as much as for the spring time famine, that it 

 lays up its abundant stores of food. 



Preble 11 also mentions this habit, but Shufeldt 14 denies 

 it. He says, in speaking of the deer mouse {Peromyscus 

 Leucopus) : 



Is it to meet the requirements of his condition that this mouse lays up 

 a goodly stock of food during the autumn? Something the Zapus does 

 not do. 



Following the period of activity through October, the 

 mouse was inactive on the four nights of October 28, 29, 

 30 and 31, and reappeared for the last time on the night 

 of November 1, after which it retired for the winter. The 

 cage was placed by an open window of an empty box stall 

 in a stable where the temperature was practically that of 

 out doors. The mouse built its nest in the side of a large 

 sod placed in one corner of the cage. 



In spite of a very mild winter, the lowest official tem- 



13 Hornaday, "The American Natural History." 



i* E. W. Shufeldt, M.D., "Chapters on the Natural History of the United 



