Pale Grasshopper Mouse 125 
Onychomys leucogaster pallescens (Grk. leukos, white, 
+ gaster, stomach; Lat. pallescere, to grow pale). 
Pale Grasshopper Mouse. 
Onychomys melanophrys pallescens Merriam, N . A. Fauna, No. 3, 
p. 61 (1890). 
Type locality. — Moki Pueblo, Apache Co., Arizona. 
Measurements. — Total length, 5.5; tail vert., 1.60; hind foot, 0.8. 
Description. — (From a specimen taken April 26th, at Colorado 
Springs): Above, tawny, with black hairs sparsely intermingled 
above, the sides and flanks being free from the black; ears blackish, 
edged with white ; upper surfaces of feet white ; body beneath white ; 
tail bicolor, white below, upper half body color mixed with black, 
and a variable white tip. The colors vary considerably, some 
specimens being quite reddish, especially some in the Warren 
Collection from Coventry, Montrose Co. The young of this genus 
have a blue pelage, similar to that of Peromyscus. 
Distribution. — This species is found over all the plains portion 
of eastern Colorado, going into the foot-hills but little, if at all. 
It has also been taken in the San Luis Valley, at Salida, at 
Westcliffe, Custer County, and at Coventry, Montrose County. It 
no doubt occurs in other localities in western Colorado, from which, 
at present, we have no records. 
Habits. — The Grasshopper Mice live in holes, either dug 
by themselves, or they take possession of the abandoned 
holes of other animals. They are sometimes captured in old 
prairie-dog holes, and in the old holes of spermophiles. Their 
comparatively strong fore paws are fairly well fitted for digging, 
and no doubt they excavate much for themselves. Their food, 
as one might guess from their common name, consists largely 
of insects, and likely enough they eat many grasshoppers. Dr. 
Merriam speaks of finding many scorpions in their stomachs 
in Arizona. They also eat seeds of any kind they may find, 
and in fact are omnivorous; but one that I kept in captivity 
several days would eat meat in preference to anything else. 
Bailey, in Biological Survey of Texas, says : " The Onychomys 
stomachs usually contain, besides finely chewed seeds and 
grain, an interesting assortment of grasshoppers, crickets, 
