180 
JOURNAL OF MAMMALOGY 
A NEW MEADOW MOUSE FROM THE CASCADE MOUNTAINS 
OF WASHINGTON 
By Walter P. Taylor 
Field work in Washington State principally during the last three 
years has resulted in the accumulation of material which demonstrates 
the existence of an unrecognized form of MicrotuSy which is here 
described. The subspecies is named in honor of George Gordon Cant- 
well, field assistant of the Biological Survey. 
, Microtus oregoni cantwelli new subspecies 
RAINIER MEADOW MOUSE 
Type from Glacier Basin, 5935 feet, Mount Rainier, Washington. No. 
232,814, cf adult, U. S. National Museum (Biological Survey collection), col- 
lected by George G. Cantwell, August 13, 1919. Original number 1487. 
General characters. — A larger form of the subgenus Chilotus than those occur- 
ring coastwise, with tendencies to paler brown color; longer rostrum and nasals; 
and longer, narrower incisive foramina. 
Geographic range. — The Cascade Mountains of Washington from the head of 
Lake Chelan and the Glacier Peak district on the north, south at least to the 
vicinity of Mount Rainier and Mount Aix. Apparently confined for the most 
part to the high Cascades. Zonal range, chiefly Canadian and Hudsonian. 
Color. — The type, and a topotype (no. 320, cf'. State College of Washington, 
collected by W. T. Shaw) both taken in midsummer, are almost identical in 
coloration with the type of Microtus oregoni hairdi from Crater Lake, Oregon, 
being approximately the buckthorn brown of Ridgway (Color Standards, etc., 
1912). They are distinguished from M. o. hairdi, however, by greater measure- 
ments throughout, as well as by the longer rostrum and incisive foramina. From 
typical M. o. oregoni or M. o. serpens they can be separated by color alone; 
oregoni tending to a richer brown, near ochraceous-tawny, and summer serpens 
tending to cinnamon-brown, due partly to a slightly darker shade of brown and 
partly to the presence of a greater number of dark hairs. Serpens collected in 
midwinter is considerably darker than typical cantwelli. Typical examples of the 
new form are grayish below, with the plumbeous hair bases showing through, 
and with a faint wash of buffy. Worn specimens appear darker, due to the effect 
of the plumbeous hair bases, and there is some variation in the color of the brown 
itself. Specimens from Mount Aix (Head of Hindoo Creek, 6500 feet, Yakima 
County) and Bumping Lake (3 miles northeast, at Goose Prairie, 3300 feet, 
Yakima County) closely resemble the type and topotype in color. Those from 
Entiat (20 miles above the mouth of the river, 1680 feet, Yakima County), 
Stehekin (Head of Lake Chelan, 1079 feet, Chelan County), Cascade Tunnel 
(3373 feet, Chelan County) and the Suiattle River (Chiwawa Mountain Fork, 
4500 feet, Snohomish Count}^? are somewhat darker. Practically all have the 
