'riii-: COMMON mi:ai)()\v moi si:. 



507 



(lolph counties. Other records are, Koselavvii, Moiiiilny i-. Hebron, 

 South Bend, WolcottviHe, Blooininfjton and Baseoin. 



Habits. — In this State Mlcrohis p( tnisi/l ra iilctis is seldom found 

 at a distance from the marshes and streams and the common vohj 

 of most localities is M. ochrogasfcr or SijHaptoinys c. stonei. East 

 of the Alleghenies the distribution is partially reversed and Syn- 

 aptomys is always found in the bogs and swamps while the com- 

 mon meadow mouse, as it is there called, is fonnd in the drier fields 

 as well as the marshy places. 



Along the Kankakee River, near Roselawn, I trapped indus- 

 triously on a grassy sand hill above high water level and caught 

 several species of small mammals, but no voles. Next I went down 

 into an adjoining marsh that is covered with a growth of coarse 



a b 



Fig. 9. — Skull of Microtus peniifiul raniciis : a, dorsal view ; b, venti'al view. After 

 Bailey. N. Am. Fauna No. 17. Bureau of the Biol. Sur., U. S. Dept. of Agri. 



grass in summer, but is flooded with stagnant water during the 

 spring. The grasses there grow up rank and fall down, become 

 coated with a film of mud, and form a dense mat year after year. 

 Under this mat of dead and decajdng grass I found runways and 

 caught the Pennsylvania vole in abundance. How do they get 

 along in time of flood? Some retreat to the higher ground, no 

 doubt, but some must be cut off by the water, for they go out into 

 the marsh half a mile from higher ground ; and half a mile is a long 

 distance for these clumsy, slow moving little creatures. Are they 

 able to swim out? Do they float down stream till washed ashore 

 accidentally? Do they climb trees, or what becomes of them? 

 These are questions I am not able to answer. 



We do know that these mice can swim short distances and do 



