143 
ArvicoLa (PEpomys) austErRus LeConte. 
PRAIRIE MEADOW-MOUSE. 
1853. Arvicola austerus, LeConte, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci., Phila., vi, 1253, 
405 (Racine, Wis.; type, No. 2249, Mus. Smiths.).—Aud. & 
Bach., Q. N. A., iii, 1854, 289 (based on LeConte’s description). 
Kennicott, Agric. Rep. U.$. Pat Office for 1856 (1867), 97, pl. 
xii, upper fig. (illinois).—Jordan, Man. Vert., 1878, 2d ed. 
1857. Arvicola (Pedomys) austerus, Baird, Mamm. N. A., 1857, 5389.—Coues, 
Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci., Phila., 1874, 190; Mon. N. A. Rodentia, 
1877, 210.—Coues and Yarrow, Rep. Expl. and Surv., West 100th 
Merid., 1875, 108. 
Arvicola (Pedomys) cinnamomea, Baird, op. cit., 541 (Pembina Da- 
kota). 
Arvicola (Pedomys) haydeni, Baird, op. cit., 648 (Fort Pierre, Da- 
kota). 
Specific Oharacters.—Total length 4 inches; tail 1 25; feet seven-tenths 
of an inch. ‘ Above, the hairs are deep black at the base, then ringed 
with cinnamon-brown, and tipped with blackish; a few long hairs, en- 
tirely black, are interspersed; on the head and along the back, the color 
is darker. Low on the sides and cheeks, the hairs are all tipped with 
cinnamon-brown, without rings; belly bluish-gray, tinted with cinna- 
mon.” Tail bicolor, showing the colors of the upper and under parts of 
the body respectively ; the young are darker above. The pelage is rather 
coarse, thick, and stout, not lying smooth enough to be very glossy, and 
so suggesting the fit name “‘austerus.” Seemingly stouter and clumsier 
than riparius; tail shorter, head apparently broader, with obtuse muzzle 
and rather short and spare whiskers. 
Habitat.—Western States and adjoining territories, Kansas and: Louis- 
iana, especially Illinois, Missouri, and Michigan Jn northern illinois 
and southern Wisconsin, this is the most abundant native mammal, pre- 
ferring wet prairies, according to Mr. Kennicott, and never observed by 
him in the woods. The species is reported by Mr. Langdon, from Madi- 
_ sonville, Ohio, and from Brookville, Indiana. Mr. Langdon reports this 
species as found in woods, under logs, so it is erly common to both 
woods and prairies. 
Habits.— A. austerus is a prolific species, commonly producing five young 
at a birth, from April toOctober. The males de.not live with the females 
and young in summer. 
The writer has unearthed many of this species in prairie meadows, 
when leveling hills, in order that the grass might be cut with the 
