MAMMALS OF MARYLAND 



95 



and their distinguishing characteristics are discussed in more detail 

 under that species. 



Measurements. — Thirteen adults from Finzel, Garrett County, have 

 external measurements as follows: Total length 179.3 (172-190) ; tail 

 93.1 (82-102) ; hind foot 20.5 (20-22) . Eleven adults from Finzel have 

 the following cranial measurements : Greatest length 24.6 (24.3-25.3) ; 

 zygomatic breadth 12.3 (11.7-13.3) ; interorbital breadth 3.7 (3.5- 

 3.9) ; maxillary toothrow 3.3 (3.2-3.5). 



Habitat and habits. — This subspecies prefers dense woods and is 

 most abundant among mossy boulders and logs in moist spruce and 

 fir forests at higher elevations. E. A. Preble (in field notes) gives 

 information about where he took specimens in Garrett County. He 

 says that they were common in a tract of hemlock woods about 3 miles 

 east of Grantsville. One specimen was taken in a small strip of decidu- 

 ous trees and shrubs adjoining a field where Peromyscus leucofus was 

 also taken. At Finzel, at an elevation of about 2,600 feet, he found that 

 these mice were abundant and inhabiting all sorts of situations from 

 the dry hillsides and edges of fields to the deep hemlock swamps, while 

 at Bittinger (elevation about 2,600 feet) they were abundant only in 

 the deep woods. 



This mouse nests in burrows under rocks and logs and sometimes in 

 hollow trees. It is somewhat arboreal and may build tree nests as high 

 as 50 feet above the ground (J. W. Bailey, 1946, p. 216). Two or three 

 litters, of from two to seven young, are produced each season. Food 

 consists of seeds, nuts, and berries, supplemented with insects, snails, 

 and occasionally dead birds and other mice. 



SpeciTnens examined. — Allegany County: Frostburg, 1. Garrett 

 County: Bittinger, 6 ; Finzel, 18 ; Grantsville, 16 ; Swallow Falls State 

 Forest (near Muddy Creek Falls) , 1. 



Other records and reports. — Garrett County: New Germany (Coll. 

 Nat. Hist. Soc. Maryland) . 



WHITE-FOOTED MOUSE 



Peromyscus leucopus noveboracensis (Fisher) 



[Mios. sylvaticus] noveboracensis Fisher, Synopsis Mammalium, p. 

 318, 1829. 

 Type locality. — New York. 



General distribution. — From eastern and southern Ontario, east to Maine, soutii 

 along the Atlantic coast into Virginia, West Virginia, and northern Kentucky, 

 westward, south of Great Lakes, to eastern North Dakota, South Dakota, Ne- 

 braska, northeastern Oklahoma, and northwestern Arkansas. 



Distribution in Marylamd. — Occurs abundantly in all sections of the 

 State. 



