EVOTOMYS RUTILUS GAPPERI. 
173 
looked so like a little fifer playing on an ebony fife that laughter was 
irresistible.” * 
EVOTOMYS RUTILUS GAPPERI (Vigors) Coues. 
Red-backed Mouse ; Long-eared Wood Mouse. 
The Red-backed Mouse is abundant in all parts of the Adirondacks. 
It occurs on the summits of the tree-covered mountains as well as in 
the deepest valleys. It is essentially a wood species in its local dis- 
tribution, rarely frequenting the beaver meadows or the fields of the 
farmer. It often enters the woodman’s camp, and I have sometimes 
caught it even in the luxurious log-houses which have, during the 
past few years, supplanted the old-time shanties in many parts of 
the Adirondacks. 
It feeds upon beechnuts and a variety of seeds, berries, and roots, 
and also, at certain times in the winter season, upon the bark of 
shrubs and trees. The beech, maple, ash, and bass suffer most 
severely from its attacks, and in the order named. The bark is 
generally removed in irregular areas from the large roots just above 
the ground ; but sometimes saplings, and even trees a foot (305 mm.) 
or more in diameter are completely girdled to the height of three or 
four feet (approximately 91a to 1220 mm.). The damage thus done 
to our deciduous groves is sometimes great, but does not compare 
with the ravages committed by the field mouse (. Arvicola riparius). 
The Wood Mouse is terrestrial, like the other members of the 
Arvicoline series, and commonly lives in burrows in the ground. It 
sometimes makes regular runways similar to those of the field mouse, 
but usually travels freely over the surface, not confining itself to any 
prescribed course. It is both diurnal and nocturnal. I have shot it 
at noonday, scampering over the leaves in the deep woods, and 
dodging in and out between the rocks of a lake shore. I have also 
seen it after dark in shanties and log-houses ; and have caught many 
* American Naturalist, Vol. V, No. 12, Dec., 1871, pp. 765-767. 
