17 



any other small object that it could get hold of. It was found to 

 be very abundant at Franklin in the winter of 1909-10 where a 

 lai^e colony was living in a ledge of rocks near the town. They 

 were present, but less plentiful, in the vicinity of Cireleville. E. 

 A. Goldman, of the U. S. Biological Survey, (N. A. Fauna No. 31) 

 lists 11 specimens from Franklin, 1 from Hillsboro and 21 from 

 White Sulphur Springs. 



It is remarkable that this rat, which for so many years had been 

 a familiar animal to the early settlers of this section of the country, 

 remained unknown to science until the year 1893 when Mr. Wit- 

 mer Stone obtained a specimen in Cumberland county. Pa., and 

 described it, bestowing the technical name given above. 



The Pennsylvania wood rat is somewhat larger than the common 

 gray Norway rat. The upperparts are gray and the underparts 

 white. Eyes large and bright, ears large and tail long and hairy. 

 It constructs large nests of sticks and other rubbish in which it 

 lives. A strong odor pervades the locality where a colony has its 

 home. The food is nuts, dried fruits, grain and other vegetable 

 matter. It also feeds on flesh and lias a habit of gnawing old bones 

 It can not be regarded as being seriously harmful. 



Red-backed Mouse, EvoHmys carolinensis. 



■ This mouse has been taken in nearly all localities where I have 

 trapped in tbe spruce belt of this State. It is probably found also 

 in the upper Transition zone. It was very abundant along the 

 borders of Cranberry Glades and on Kennison mountain, Poca- 

 hontas county, in the summer and fall of 1909. Surber says of 

 this mouse, ' " Common in Canadian zone, in some places abundant. ' ' 

 The back is bright chestnut and the belly whitish. The tail is 

 11/2 inches long, the entire length of the mouse being about 

 inches. It is active both by day and night and in dark spruce for- 

 ests may frequently be seen during the day running about over 

 the ground or along moss-covei-ed logs reminding one, in its mo- 

 tions, of a chipmunk. It feeds on nuts, seeds, wild fruits, leaves, 

 insects, etc. This mouse is -an interesting and inoffensive little ani- 

 mal. 



Common Meadow Mouse, MicroUis pennsylv aniens Ord. . 

 Probably better known to the average dweller in the country 



