552 
17. S. P. R. R. EXP. AND SURVEYS—ZOOLOGY—GENERAL RRPORT. 
Arvicola rufescens, Dekay. Northern New York. 
Arvicola rufescms, Dekay, N. Y. Zool. I, 1842, 85 ; plate xxii, fig. 1. 
Ears large ; rounded. Soles with six tubercles. Fur about three lines long. Upper molars with nine external angles. 
olor above, a bright reddish brown ; the hairs light rufous at tips, intermixed with black pointed hairs. Beneath, bluish 
white ; lighter on the inside of the thighs. Muzzle, darkish brown. Feet, light brown. Tail, dark brown above, cinereous 
beneath. Length of head and body, 3 inches ; of tail, 2. 
Whether this species is more than a rusty variety of some other, I am unprepared to say. It 
does not attain the vivid and continuous chestnut brown of the A. rujidorsum. 
Arvicola sayi, Bachman. 
I have somewhere seen a reference to a species under this name, hut cannot find that it has 
been anywhere described. 
Arvicola texiana, Audubon and Bachman. Texas. 
Arvicola texiana, Aud. & Bach. N. Am. Quad. Ill, 1853, 229 ; plate cxlviii, fig. 2. 
Smaller than the cotton rat; ears large, ovate, extending beyond the fur. Outer and inner hind toes of equal length ; 
the central three much longer, and nearly equal. Soles naked from the heel. Back brownish yellow, spotted with irregular 
small blotches of black. When the hair is laid smooth there is an obscure black stripe on the sides of the back, running 
from behind the shoulders towards the rump, and converging across the buttocks to a point at the insertion of the tail; the 
remainder of the back is irregularly or slightly waved or barred with dark brown spots on a yellowish ground. Head, 
yellowish brown. Sides of neck, and along the flanks to the hips, brownish yellow. A narrow line of yellowish white 
under the chin and on the belly. Tail, grayish white beneath. Ears, brownish yellow. Length to root of tail, 4.60 
inches ; to ear, 1.25 ; to eye, . 50. Tail, 4 ; hind foot, 1.25. Found first on the Brasos, afterwards seen along the Nueces 
and Rio Grande. 
This species is, in every probability, a Sigmodon, as shown by the short and nearly equal inner 
and outer toes, the naked soles, the long tail, &c. It appears to differ in important points of 
coloration from S. berlandieri , (page 504.) Should it really be a Sigmodon , there will be no 
record of the occurrence of Arvicola in Texas. Indeed, the only species of this genus I know, 
from the southern and gulf States, are the A. pinctorum and A. austera. 
Arvicola xanthognathus, Leach. Labrador and Hudson’ Bay Territory. 
Arvicola xanthognatha, Leach, Zool. Misc. I, 1814, 60, pi. xxvi. 
J. Sabine, Zool. App. Franklin Narr., 18 , 660. 
Rich, F. B. A. 1,1829,122. 
Aud. & Bach., N. Am. Quad. Ill, 1853, 67 ; pi. cxv, (description from Richardson.) 
Ears large ; tail shorter than the head, palms broader than the soles, the posterior half of the latter hairy. Fur long and soft; 
nine lines long on the back. Color above, a mixed dark brown and black, without spots, and varying in shade with the light; 
sides a little paler. Beneath, silvery bluish gray, darkening into blackish gray in two patches anterior to the shoulders. A 
blackish brown stripe along the centre of the nose, on each side of which is a reddish brown patch extending from the mouth to 
the orbit. Tail whitish beneath. Length to root of tail, 5j to 8 inches. Head, 1.83 ; tail 1.50 ; ears, .60 ; hind foot, .83. 
This species has never been established as occurring within the limits of the United States. 
Delvay 1 , indeed, gives it as found in New York, but, as suggested by Audubon and Bachman, 
he probably had a variety of some better known species before him. 
i Arvicola xanthognatha, DeKay, N. Y. Zool., I, 1842, 90 ; pi. xxiii, f. 2. 
