HESPEROMYS LEUCOPUS. 
I 67 
locker was entered from the top, and the path to it was circuitous 
and difficult. 
The White-footed Mouse is fond of flesh and, like the flying squir- 
rel, eagerly devours dead birds placed in its way. Indeed, this is 
done so naturally, that the suspicion arises as to whether it does not 
sometimes capture and prey upon the smaller birds while on their 
roosts at night. 
Dr. Samuel Lockwood had a caged Hesperomys from Florida. 
“ Sometimes a fly would enter the cage, when she would spring at, 
and catch it, sometimes with her mouth, and at others with her hands. 
This she would eat with great relish. ... A little sod of fresh 
grass and white clover was occasionally put into the cage. This she 
enjoyed greatly, eating the greens like a rabbit; only always insisting 
on sitting up to do it. It was interesting to witness how ready she 
was for emergencies. Sitting on her hind feet, she would take hold 
with her hands of a blade of grass, and begin eating at the tip. The 
spear would rapidly shorten, and seemingly she must now stoop to 
finish it, or do it in the ordinary quadrupedal style. Now that was 
just what she did not choose to do. So when the emergency came, 
she would stoop down, and in a trice cut the blade off close to the sod 
with just one nip ; then up again on her feet in a sitting posture, she 
would finish it in a comfortable and becoming way.” * 
In personal appearance the White-footed Mouse is far more at- 
tractive than the other members of the family. Its prominent, bead- 
like eyes, large ears, and long tail are striking characteristics, while 
the rich fawn-color of the sides and back, sharply contrasted with the 
snowy white of the under parts and feet, combine to produce an 
exterior of much beauty. Add to this the natural agility and grace 
of its movements and we have an animal that, by any other name 
than mouse, would be regarded as one ot the most interesting inhab- 
itants of our forests. 
* American Naturalist, Vol. V, No. 12, Dec., 1871, p. 763. 
