Little is known of the habits of this species. It lives in the cover 

 of grass, weeds, and grains where it makes little runways over the 

 surface of tlie ground. According to Lewis (1940, p. 426), m Amelia 

 County, Va., it generally makes nests of fine grass blades on top of the 

 ground in tall grass or sedges. These nests are globular and average 

 larger than a croquet ball. 



The breeding season is from May to November ; the number of young 

 from one to five ; the gestation period is about 23 days. 



The food of the eastern harvest mouse consists largely of seeds and 

 grains with considerable green vegetation and occasionally fruit 

 (Howell, 1914, p. 11). 



According to Bailey (1923, p. 118), many skulls of harvest mice 

 were found in owl pellets in the Smithsonian tower in Washington, 

 D.C. The owl, or owls, however, may have been feeding in nearby 

 Virginia and thus the skulls may not represent District of Columbia 

 or Maryland records. This rodent species has been trapped at only one 

 locality in Maryland. 



Specimens examined. — Prince Georges County : Takoma Park (near 

 Riggs Mill), 1. Howell (1940, p. 346), reported examining two speci- 

 mens from Riggs Mill, and records in the files of the U.S. Fish and 

 Wildlife Service indicate that Ray Greenfield actually took three spe- 

 cimens in that same area on 26 January 1934. Only one specimen from 

 that locality, however, is now in the National collections. 



