CLASS I. MAMMALIA: ORDER 7. RODENTIA. 
455 
THE BARBAET MOUSE. 
in Northern Africa. The M. pumilio is of Southern Africa, the sti'ipes of which are less numer- 
ous than those of the preceding. 
The Rat of the Nile, M. JViloticus, is seven inches long, the tail four; the color, brown mixed 
with fawn, above ; below, it is a grayish-yellow. It lives along the borders of rivers. 
The Alexandria Rat, M. Alexanthmus, resembles the brown rat in size, color, and habits. It 
is a native of Egypt, and is said, within the last century, to have been introduced into Eastern 
Europe. Hence M. Selys includes it in the European species, under the title of M. tectorum. 
Besides the common mouse and the black and brown rats, which are the same with us in size, 
color, and habits as in Europe, we have in America several species of this genus which deserve 
notice. The White-footed Mouse, 31. leiicopus, is an exceedingly pretty animal, two and a 
quarter inches long, with the tail a trifle longer. It is a yellowish-brown above, the feet and belly 
white. It is believed, next to the common mouse, to be the most widely distributed species in 
North America. It is found in every state in the Union, and north as far as Labrador. It is very 
nimble, builds its nests, with an entrance from below, sometimes on shrubs, sometimes on the low 
drooping branches of trees, and lives on seeds, grain, and grass, of which it lays up stores. It is 
nocturnal in its habits, and avoids houses, living in woods, thickets, and fields. It generally digs 
a burrow, but sometimes appropriates to its use the deserted nests of birds, and sometimes occu- 
pies the vacant burrows of the smaller quadrupeds. 
The Asiatic species of this genus are numerous. Among them we might include the Black and 
Brown Rats, already described, they doubtless having originated in that quarter of the globe. 
Their migration from village to village, and from town to town, until they became recognized as 
the " old inhabitants" of Europe, was the work of centuries. There are still other species, some 
of which belong to the genera which we shall soon notice, and where they will be described. 
We now turn to America. The American Harvest Mouse, M. humilis, is about two inches 
and three-quarters long, with a tail two inches ; its color is reddish-gray above, yellowish-white 
beneath. In several respects it approaches the genus Arvicola. It is sj^aringly distributed from 
New York to South Carolina. 
The Orange-colored Mouse, M. aureolus^ arranged by some naturalists under the subgenus 
Calomys, of Waterhouse, is four and a quarter inches long ; orange color above and buff beneath ; 
found in Georgia and South Carolina. 
The Missouri Mouse, M. Missom-iensis, is four and a half inches long, light fawn above and 
white below ; found in Missouri. 
The Carolina Mouse, M. Caroliniensis, is two and a half inches long, of a light lead-color, 
and is found sparingly in the low grounds of some of the maritime districts of South Carolina. 
Leconte's Mouse, M. Zecontei, is two and a half inches long, of a reddish-brown above and 
fawn below, and is found in Georgia. 
