[37.] 3. Arvicola Pennsylvanicus. (Ord.) Wilson's Meadow-Mouse.
Short-tailed Mouse. Forster, Phil. Trans., vol. lxii. p. 380. No. 18..
Meadow-Mouse. Pennant’s Arctic Zool., vol. i. p. 133?* Wilson, Am. Qrnith., vol. vi. p. 59. t. 50. £.3.
Arvicola Pennsylvania ‘^Ord, Guthrie's Geography” (quoted from Harlan.) Harlan, Fauna, p. 145. .
A. (Pennsylvanicus) rostro obtuso, auriculis vellere subcelatis, caudd bené vestitd obtusd dimidium capitis longitudine
aquanti, corporefusco subter griseo-albo.
Wilson’s Meadow-Mouse, with an obtuse snout, a blunt hairy tail, half the length of the head, back brown, belly .
nearly white.
This campagnol was considered by Forster and Pennant to be specifically the
same with the Meadow-Mouse of the old continent (Mus agrestis, L in n . M us
arvalis, P e n n . Arvicola vulgaris, D esm.) , which it greatly resembles both in
appearance and habits. It was first described by Wilson, whose specimen, however,
was half an inch longer than I have ever seen it in the Hudson’s Bay
countries. This little animal is very abundant from Canada to Great Bear Lake,
and multiplies with rapidity in the neighbourhood of the trading posts. It seeks
shelter in the barns and out-houses, where it makes hoards of grain and of the seeds
of leguminous plants. It is said to be very fond of the bulbous roots of the
Philadelphia lily; and it does much mischief in gardens by burrowing under
the drills, and carrying off the seeds. This is the species which is described in
Captain Franklin’s Journey (p. 660), under the name of Arvicola xanthognatha.
D E S C R I P T IO N .
The body and head have conjointly a short oval shape. The head is large, with an obtuse
nose, and the lips are clothed with very short hairs. Margins of the nostrils and the septum
naked ; upper lip very slightly cleft; a hairy patch on the inside of the mouth. Incisors
yellow, dentition precisely similar to that of the Arvic. xanthognathus. Eyes small; whiskers
about as long as the head, of a brownish-colour approaching to black at their roots.
Ears large, with a wide auditory opening, protected by a large rounded tragus. External ear
erect, oval, rounded above, thin and membranous, clothed with a few short hairs; it is
nearly six lines high, but is hid by the fur. The tail is cylindrical, and is thickly
clothed with short adpressed hairs, a few of which project beyond the obtuse extremity,
but they can scarcely be said to form a pencil or tuft. The extremities are short, and
* There seems to be some mistake in Pennant’s having ascribed the dimensions of six inches to this Meadow-Mouse.
He quotes Buffon, who describes his specimen as little more than half that size.
much concealed by the broad fleshy body. The palms of the fore-feet are naked, and
have five little callous tubercles, of which one is common to the two middle toes, one to each
of the other two toes, and two lie in contact with each other at the posterior part of the palm;
one of the latter two is larger than any of the others, and supports the rudiment of a thumb,
consisting of a small papilla, protected by a minute and rather obtuse entire nail. The two
middle toes spring together from the extremity of the palm, and are nearly equal to each
other in length. The inner toe arises higher up, and is next to the middle ones in length. The
outer toe is opposite to the inner one, but is still shorter. All the toes are covered above
with short adpressed hairs, some of which project beyond the claws. The claws are
slender, pointed, very slightly arched, and have a lanceolate-shaped groove underneath.
The feet are the only part of the fore-extremities which project beyond the fur of the body.
The hind-feet have a pretty long and rather slender tarsus, clothed with short adpressed
hairs. They have four toes similarly arranged with those of the fore-feet, but of greater length;
and an inner toe or thumb of the same form with the outer one, but situated further back.
The hind-feet are longer than the fore-ones, and part of the leg projects beyond the fur of
the body.
Colour of all the upper parts, including the sides of the head, a hair-brown, or what is
termed mouse-colour, without spots or mottling; there is no reddish spot on the cheek or face,
but there is a very slight reddish-brown tinge on the hairs about the ears. The under parts,
including the chin and part of the neck, are light-gray. The brown of the sides and gray of
the belly mingle without any well defined line of junction. The fur is fine and long, and
when blown aside appears over the whole body of a dark bluish or blackish gray, the colours
proper to the back and belly being confined to the tips of the hair. The tail is of the colour
of the back above and of the belly underneath.
D i m e n s i o n s .
In ch e s. L in e s.
Length of head and body . . . . 3 6
tail . 1 1
„ head alone . . . . . 2 3
Many of these mice were killed at Carlton-house in the beginning of March,
when the preceding description was drawn up. I should have hesitated in
describing this animal as specifically distinct from the common meadow-mouse of
Europe, had it not already received a distinct name.