\ MAMMALS OF MARYLAND 103 



i bulk of which would be no larger than a man's thumb. Another nest 

 was located at a depth of about 18 inches under a rotten elm stump. It 

 was situated on top of the soil underneath a root of the stump, and 

 was 4 inches in diameter and about 1 inch in depth, slightly hollow 

 and without cover other than the log above. It was composed of small 

 pieces of dry leaves, bark, hazelnut shells, hemlock cones, twigs, dry 

 sphagnum, and green moss. 



I According to Hamilton (1941, p. 259), in New York State about 

 three- fourths of the food of this species is composed of green vegeta- 

 tion. In addition, a large part of the diet consists of nuts and seeds. 

 Insects are not as often eaten as they are by white- footed mice. 



The red-backed mouse does not hibernate, but it does actively gather 

 stores in the fall in preparation for winter. The breeding season is 

 protracted, beginning in the late winter or early spring and extending 

 well into fall. One litter follows another during the breeding season, 

 and from two to eight young comprise a litter. The gestation period 

 is 17 to 19 days. 



Specimens examined. — Allegany County: Mount Savage, 6 (Coll. 

 U. Md.) ; Town Hill Mountain, near beacon light, 1 (Coll. U. Md.). 

 Garrett Comity: Bittinger, 7; Cranberry Swamp, 4 (Coll. U. Md.) ; 

 Finzel, 5 ; Grantsville, 3 miles E, 15 ; Mountain Lake Park, 1 ; Swallow 

 Falls State Forest (near Muddy Creek Falls) , 1 ; S wanton, 1 ; Thayer- 

 ville Swamp, 2 (Coll. U. Md.) ; Wolf Swamp, 1. 



Remnarhs. — Maryland C . g. gapperi average somewhat darker and 

 slightly larger than specimens of this subspecies from Ontario and 

 central New York. They appear to be intergrades between C. g. gapperi 

 and C. g. caroliriensis but are more closely related to the former. The 

 specimen collected by Preble in the deep hemlock woods at Swanton 

 is as dark and large, however, as typical carolinensis, 



MEADOW VOLE 

 Microtus pennsylvanicus (Ord) 



Two races of this widespread and abundant small mammal are 

 recognizable in Maryland. They are : 



Microtus pennsylvanicus pennsylvanicus (Ord) 



Mus penn^lvanicus Ord, in Guthrie, a new geogr., hist., comm. 

 grammar . . . Philadelphia, 2d Amer. ed., 2: 292, 1815. 

 Type locality. — Meadows below Philadelphia, Pa. 



General distribution. — From Quebec and New Brunswick, south into Georgia, 

 and west into Nebraska, South Dakota, and North Dakota. 



Distribution in Maryland. — Distributed in the Piedmont, Ridge and 

 Valley, and Allegheny Mountain sections. Intergrades with Microtus 



