which number, more than half have been taken by the writers from this locality.

This mouse is found on hillsides, in high, dry, blue-grass pastures, where flat stones abound. It especially prefers what are known as "woods pastures," containing little or no undergrowth.

Cooper's field mouse has been found breeding from February to December. It has never been known by the author to bring forth more than four young at a time. In all suckling females which have been examined by us, but four mammæ were apparent, one pair pectoral and the other inguinal.

In young specimens, the hair appears finer, shorter, and more glossy, than in more aged examples. As a rule, the specimens just reaching maturity are darkest, but one old female shows a very dark reddish-brown back and is dark ash below.

The nest of this species is always under cover, generally beneath a log or stump, and is composed of fine grass not very securely held together.

Cooper's mice live in winter chiefly upon the stems of bluegrass, and the more tender portions of white clover.

The roots

of the "wild artichoke," Helianthus doronicoides Lam., have also been found in quantities in their storehouses.

These mice vary much in numbers, in different years. In 1879 they were very common on a hill south of Brookville. This year no examples of S. cooperi have been taken on this hill, but a single specimen was found not far distant.

Cooper's mouse is the most active representative of its family in this locality. It is most frequently found by turning over logs and stones, beneath which it remains concealed.

The second representative of this family, Arvicola pinetorum Le C., pine mouse, has been considered rare in this locality, but in a two hours' hunt in February last, eleven specimens were taken. This species strongly resembles a mole in form, especially in the size of its fore feet and of the forward part of its body. Its habits are also somewhat similar. The runways of the pine mouse are nearly always under ground. They frequent the higher part of steep, partially wooded hills, in winter occupying the warmer exposures. When the covering is suddenly removed from their winter quarters, they appear dazzled by the light, and for an instant, can be easily caught. Of this opportunity, one must take

advantage, or they suddenly disappear among their intricate underground passages where they are quite safe.

The nest of the pine mouse is a round ball of blue-grass blades, from four to six inches in diameter. The interior is composed of fine grass. The nest is generally placed beneath a pile of leaves. or an old stump. These nests are often occupied by the mice as winter quarters.

The pine mouse, in winter, lives upon the tender roots of young hickories, Carya alba Nutt., the young sprouts of white clover, Trifolium repens L., the fruit of the red haw, Crataegus coccinea L., and the tuberous roots of the "wild violet," Viola cucullata Ait. These products, except the first, are found stored in large quantities. As much as a gallon of the tubers of the wild violet have been found, buried by these mice, eighteen inches below the surface of the ground.

The common meadow mouse, Arvicola riparius Le C., is the most common mammal in southeastern Indiana. Some years they are very numerous, the ground being literally honeycombed by their passages. After the early snows have fallen, corn shocks will be found thickly colonized by these little pests, who find there, not only comfortable quarters, but a well filled granary from which to draw their winter's food. Should the snow remain on the ground for any great length of time, the runways of these mice will show that their explorations have been extended almost everywhere.

Their food in winter is the corn found in the thriftless farmer's shocks, the seeds of a number of common plants, and the young blades of the blue-grass.

Their large round nests remind one of miniature musk-rat houses. They are constructed of grass strongly interwoven. The single opening to their home is below, connecting with their runways. These nests are found in almost every conceivable place in thickets, swampy places, in fence corners, and many in open clover-fields where the mice prey upon the nests of the humble bees.

The meadow mice breed from February to December. Arvicola austerus Ord., called by some authorities "prairie meadow mouse" is the rarest of the family in this locality. We think Dr. Langdon very properly calls this species, the "wood mouse" on count of its attachment to the more open woodland, or the grassy

ac

fields and newly cleared land adjoining such. All the specimens seen here have been caught by a cat, hence we are unacquainted with its habits.

Those of the above mentioned species with which we are best acquainted occur at times in great numbers, while in other years they are scarce. During the years 1878-79, Arvicola riparius was very common, but in 1880 most of them disappeared, and for a long time they were very scarce. They have slowly increased in numbers since that time and are now as numerous perhaps as

ever.

The principal enemies of these mice are the smaller hawks (Tinnuculus sparverius Vieill. ; Accipiter fuscus Bp. ; and Accipiter cooperi Bd.); and owls (Scops asio Bp.; and Asio accipitrinus Bd.). Cats and dogs catch them as opportunity affords. Many are also killed by shrews.

All of these mice are gregarious. Their habits differ to a considerable extent. Each species lives on some particular food found near its home. Except in the case of the pine mouse and Cooper's mouse, the local ranges of no two species overlap; each frequents a particular locality, from which it plays its part in the economy of nature.

FEATHERS OF THE DODO. By H. N. MOSELEY, Professor of Anatomy, University of Oxford, England.

[ABSTRACT.]

PROFESSOR MOSELEY exhibited a drawing showing the arrangement of the follicles of the feathers in the unique specimen of the skin of the head of the dodo (Didus ineptus) belonging to the University of Oxford. Unlike what occurs in all other birds, in the dodo all the feathers are disposed in groups of three which are nearly equal in size. This arrangement of the feathers is shown in one of the ancient oil-paintings of the dodo, by Savery, belonging also to the Oxford collection. It seems probable that the two lateral feathers, in each group of three, are homologous with the pair of minute rudimentary feathers, termed filoplumes, which in the pigeons lie on either side of the follicle of each mainfeather. It seems probable that in the dodo, and in the ancestral

pigeons, the feathers were disposed in groups of three of nearly similar dimensions, and that in course of development the lateral feathers of each group have been reduced to the rudimentary filoplume condition by the preponderance of the central main feather.

THE HOOD OF THE HOODED SEAL

(CYSTOPHORA CRISTATA). By

C. HART MERRIAM, M. D., Locust Grove, N. Y.

[ABSTRACT.]

WRITERS upon Pinnipeds agree in stating that the curious appendage variously known as the "hood", "cap", or "bladder" of the hooded seal is placed upon the top of the head, and is capable (in some wholly unexplained way) of being drawn over the eyes at will. As a matter of fact, it is an inflatable proboscis overhanging the mouth and extending posteriorly to a point a little behind the eyes. It is lined by a continuation of the nasal mucous membrane, and is divided longitudinally into two distinct chambers, by a continuation and expansion of the nasal septum. It is supported by three cartilages-one median and two lateral. It is only present in the males, and does not become noticeable till the fourth year. It is purely a sexual development and its function, if any, is unknown.

HIBERNATION OF THE LOWER VERTEBRATES. By A. W. BUTLER, Brookville, Ind.

[ABSTRACT.]

I HAVE for several years, as opportunity offered, carefully noted. my observations of the "Lower vertebrates," in southeastern Indiana. The question of hibernation of this portion of the animal kingdom has recently been brought to our attention, and in this connection I will present my observations upon this subject.

The common "box tortoise" of this region hibernates regularly. It frequents the drier woodland, partially overgrown with underbrush. It enters the ground the latter part of September or early

in October to a depth of not more than a foot, the average being from eight to ten inches. A few years ago, in March, I was burning over a tract of woodland, on which were a number of brush piles. When the fire burned out I passed where some of these brush piles had been. I noticed the ground appeared to be torn up as though a charge from a shot gun had been fired into it. Examination in several instances revealed the fact that the work had been done by tortoises. The heat had aroused them from their winter quarters, and they sought the surface and the cause of their sudden awakening.

The day being quite cool, I placed them in a beaten road which passed through the woods, and awaited further developments. The tortoises appeared to realize that they had entered upon their summer career too soon, and in a few moments they were all safely buried beneath the neighboring brush piles and leaves.

The box tortoise emerges from its winter quarters late in April or early in May.

All the river and pond turtles hibernate in this locality. The "soft shelled turtles" burrow deep into the mud, while their "hard shelled" relatives, not being so susceptible to climatic changes, do not winter at such a depth.

I have under my charge a water power canal, parts of which are thickly populated by turtles. In winter while making repairs, "hard shelled" turtles are often found at four to twelve inches beneath the earth, in the bed of the canal. When one is found we feel confident of finding two to four companions near by. The White Water Rivers are very clear in winter, enabling one to examine even their deeper portions to advantage. I have never been able to hear of an instance where a turtle has been seen, even in the deepest water: besides, the deeper holes are seined almost every winter, and I have been unable to learn of a turtle ever having been drawn out by a seine at that time of the year.

My fellow worker, Mr. E. R. Quick, mentions two instances of turtles leaving ponds which became dry in winter. On one of these occasions he noticed the tracks of a turtle in the snow which he thinks were made while the snow was melting.

I have found "hard shelled" turtles that had been left some distance from the river by the winter's floods. They appeared dead, but when brought to the fire became quite active. "Soft shelled" turtles when found under these circumstances never recover.