CHEEK-POUCH MICE AND RATS 
91 
mice escaped into the sage-brush. Near by stood 
an old-fashioned buggy. 
Next morning, when the photographer lifted 
the cushion of his buggy-seat, and opened the 
top of the shallow box underneath, the five mice, 
with their heads together in a droll-looking group, 
looked out at him in surprise and curiosity, with- 
out attempting to run away. But very soon it 
became our turn to be surprised. 
We found that those industrious little creatures 
had gathered up every particle of their nest, and 
every seed of their winter store, and carried all 
of it up into the seat of that buggy! The nest 
had been carefully re-made, and the seed placed 
closed by, as before. Considering the number 
of journeys that must have been necessary to 
carry all those materials over the ground, and 
climb up to the buggy-seat, the industry and 
agility of the mice were amazing. 
By way of experiment, we again removed the 
nest, and while the mice once more took to the 
sage-brush, we collected all the seed, and poured 
it in a pile upon the ground, as before. During 
the following night, those indomitable little creat- 
ures again carried nest and seed back into the 
buggy-seat., just as before. Then we gathered 
up the entire family of mice with their nest and 
seed, and transported them to New York. 
The Grasshopper Mouse , 1 originally de- 
scribed by Audubon and Bachman as the Mis- 
souri Mouse, and often called the Mole Mouse, 
is mentioned in order to caution western observ- 
ers against confusing it with the preceding species. 
In some respects it strongly resembles the white- 
footed mouse, being all white underneath, in- 
cluding its legs. It can readily be distinguished 
by its large fore claws and its short, stumpy tail, 
which is only about one-third as long as the head 
and body. Its upper surface is brownish-gray. 
Its fur is very fine and soft, and hence it is some- 
times called the Mole Mouse. Its length, head 
and body, is 4^ inches, tail, If inches. 
CHEEK-POUCH MICE AND RATS. 
Heteromyidae. 
This is strictly a Family of the West and South- 
west, its members being found' only west of Ar- 
kansas, Iowa and Minnesota. It does not contain 
the pocket gophers. Many of its twenty-six spe- 
1 Onychomys leucogastcr. 
cies are desert dwellers, even inhabiting Death 
Valley, California. All its members are distin- 
guished from other North American animals 
(except the jumping mouse and pocket gopher) 
by the presence of a large and very serviceable 
hair-lined pouch in the skin of each cheek. 
Barring the two exceptions noted, this char- 
acter alone is sufficient for the recognition of any 
American member of this Family. 
As clearly shown in the full-page diagram, 
this family may 
be divided into 
two Subfamilies, 
an arrangement 
which is very 
convenient and 
helpful. The first 
we must call the 
Pocket Mouse 
Subfamily and 
its leading genus 
(Per -og-na' thus) 
contains twenty- 
six full species, 
and fifteen sub- 
species. All are 
distinguished by the following characters: head 
large; body slender and graceful ; hind legs long, 
and fitted for jumping; tail long; large external 
cheek pouches, hairy inside, and not connected 
with the interior of the mouth ; hair smooth and 
compact, sometimes intermingled with spines. 
These mice are quick and active in movement, 
and some species leap with considerable power. 
Since 1839 the Typical Pocket Mouse -has 
been described again and again, but none of its 
describers have taken the trouble to give it an 
English name! Hereafter, let us call it by the 
name given above, because it is the type of its 
genus. It inhabits Montana, Wyoming and the 
Dakotas. Its color above is sandy-yellowish, 
lined with black; underneath, white; and these 
two color areas are divided low down along the 
side by a lengthwise band of pale yellow. Length, 
3 + 2| inches. 
The Kangaroo Rat 3 Subfamily, of fifteen full 
species, is fitly represented by an elf-like creat- 
ure which is one of the most beautiful and at- 
2 Perognathus fasciatus. 
3 Typical species, Perodipus richardsoni of west- 
ern Kansas, Oklahoma and Indian Territory. 
