68 
YELLOW-CHEEKED MEADOW-MOUSE. 
length ; the posterior part of the sole is covered with hair ; soles of hind 
feet, narrower and longer than the palms of the fore feet ; fur soft and 
fine, about four lines and a half long on the head, and nine on the posterior 
part of the back. 
COLOUR. 
The fur, from the roots to near the tips, is grayish-black ; on the head 
and back the tips are yellowish-brown or black, the black pointed hairs 
being the longest ; the colour resulting is a mixture of dark brown and 
black, without spots ; sides, paler than the back ; under parts, silvery 
bluish-gray. 
Anterior to the shoulder, dark gray ; there is a blackish-brown stripe 
on the centre of the nose ; on each side of the nose a reddish-brown patch 
which extends to the orbit ; around the eye, pale orange ; whiskers, black ; 
tail, brownish-black above, whitish beneath ; feet, dark brown on the upper 
surface, whitish on the under. 
DIMENSIONS. 
Inches. Lines. 
Length from point of nose to root of tail, - - - 8 
“ of head, 1 10 
of tail, 1 6 
Breadth of ear, 7 
Hind foot, from heel to point of claw of middle toe, - 10 
HABITS. 
The descriptions of its habits given by the few writers who have 
referred with positive certainty to this species, are very meagre, but all the 
arvicolas, with slight variations, are similar in habit ; they live in low 
grounds, usually preferring meadows ; burrow in the banks of ponds and 
near water-courses, feed on grasses and seeds, have a considerable number 
of young at a birth, are somewhat nocturnal, and make galleries of various 
lengths, which enable them to traverse the neighbourhood of their nestling- 
places and procure the roots of grasses and plants. 
This species, as is mentioned by Richardson and other observers, 
makes its long galleries under the mossy turf, on the dry banks of lakes 
and rivers, and also in the woods ; the specimens brought by us from 
Labrador were obtained from beneath large masses of moss growing on the 
rocks. 
