84 
ORDERS OF MAMMALS— GNAWING ANIMALS 
TYPICAL NORTH AMERICAN MICE AND RATS (north of Mexico). 
MOUSE 
AND RAT 
FAMILY. 
( Mu'ri-dae .) 
THE CHEEK- 
POUCHED 
FAMILY OF 
MICE AND 
RATS. 
(H et-e-ro-my'i- 
dae.) 
JUMPING 
MOUSE 
FAMILY. 
( Za-pod'i-dae .) 
COMMON NAME OF 
GENUS. 
Muskrat, 
Lemming, . . . . 
Lemming Mouse, . . 
Field Mouse, . . . 
' Red-Backed Mouse, . 
Vole, • 
Wood Rat, . . . . 
I Harvest Mouse, . . 
Rice-Field Mouse, 
Cotton Rat, . . . . 
White-Footed Mouse, 
Grasshopper Mouse, . 
Domestic Rat, . . . 
SCIENTIFIC NAME. 
Fi'ber, 
1. Di-crost' o-nyx, . . 
2. Syn-ap'to-mys, . . 
3. Mi-crot'us ( Ar-vic 
o-la), . . . . 
4. F-vot' o-mys, . . . 
5. Phe-nac 1 o-mys , . . 
6. Ne-o-to'ma, . . . 
7. Reith-ro-don'to-mys, 
8. O-ryz'o-mys, . . . 
9. Sig'mo-don, . . . 
10. Per-o-mys'cus, . . 
11. O-ny-cho'mys, . . 
Mus, 
Subfamily of the 
Pocket Mice, . . 
(Species small.) 
Subfamily of the 
Kangaroo Rats, 
(Species larger.) 
( 12. Per-og-na'thus, 
(13. 
TYPE SPECIES. 
zi-beth'i-cus, 
hud-so'ni-us, 
coop'er-i, 
NUMBER OF 
FULL SUB- 
SPECIES. SPECIES. 
penn-syl-van' i-cus, 48 
gap' per -i, . . .17 
o-ro'phi-lus, . . 7 
flor-i-dan'a, . .17 
le-cont'i, . . . .10 
pa-lus'tris, ... 2 
his'pi-dus, ... 3 
leu-co'pus, ... 42 
leu'co-gas-ter, . . 6 
nor -v eg' i-cus, . . 4 
fas-ci-a'tus, ... 26 
Mi-cro-dip'o-dops, . meg-a-ceph'a-lus, 
\ 14. Di-pod' o-mys, 
( 15. Per-o-di'pus, 
mer ri-am-i, 
rich' ard-son-i, 
3 
5 
1 
IS 
5 
19 
6 
3 
5 
27 
6 
15 
Jumping Mouse, . . 16. Za'pus, .... hud-so'ni-us, . . 10 
10 
256 145 
habits are strictly aquatic. The tail furnishes 
the motive power for swimming. The feet are 
small, and but very slightly webbed, and the body 
is completely covered with soft, brown fur an 
inch or more in length, which is much sought by 
furriers. When taken at the best season, plucked, 
dressed and dyed a rich brown-black, it is known 
to the trade as “French seal.” 
Muskrats that inhabit streams with high banks 
do not trouble themselves to build houses, but 
merely burrow into the banks. In rivers and 
ponds with low margins, however, they gather 
coarse grass, reeds and mud, and build dome- 
shaped houses, about five feet in diameter, which 
rise from two to four feet above the water. All 
such houses are entered below the surface of the 
water, so far down that ice does not close their 
doors, and within there is a floor raised well above 
the water, on which the inmates eat their food, 
and sleep. 
When too many captive Muskrats are kept in 
the same enclosure, say twelve in a fenced pool 
thirty feet square, they fight viciously, and not 
only kill each other, but sometimes partly de- 
vour one of the victims. Although often dis- 
puted, it is nevertheless a fact that they eat flesh 
on very slight provocation. They are very un- 
satisfactory animals to keep in captivity, no mat- 
ter what the conditions may be. 
The Hudson Bay Lemming 1 is worthy of 
special notice, because it is the most widely- 
distributed and noteworthy rat-like animal of 
the far North. It is strictly a mammal of the 
cold northland, and like many other arctic ani- 
mals, its winter coat is pure white, and its fur is 
dense and warm. Among the west Alaskan 
Eskimo, skins are very common, and the children 
delight in using them for doll clothes. (Charles 
H. Townsend.) 
This animal is about the size of a large mole, 
1 Dicrostonyx hudsonius. 
