Townsend meadow mice occur west of the Cascade Mountains in California, Washington, Oregon, British Columbia, and on some British Columbian and Washington islands. The habitats of the two races of the Townsend meadow mice found in Washington are wholly in the humid subdivision of the Transition Life-zone but vary somewhat in nature. The race _townsendii_ lives in marshes or damp meadows, under cover of deep, rank vegetation. These mice avoid forested areas or dry brush, but sometimes occur in dry grass when it is deep enough to conceal them from enemies. The race _pugeti_ has been recorded from meadows, salt marshes, driftwood strewn on sea-beaches, areas of sparse, dry grass, and piles of rocks. Townsend meadow mice are as diurnal as they are nocturnal; specimens have been trapped at almost all hours of the day and night. Their ordinary method of traveling is a slow run. When startled they make a dash for the nearest cover, into which they dive headlong. They make considerable noise while moving about and often may be heard from several feet away. Captives in the laboratory seemed rather dull and stupid as compared with other meadow mice. [Illustration: FIG. 115. Runways of Townsend meadow mice (_Microtus townsendii_) worn to grooves in the damp soil at Seattle; May 18, 1938; dense cover of cattails has been burned off (W. W. Dalquest photo).] In the fall, winter, and early spring the Townsend meadow mice keep to their runways. These runways are used by successive generations of mice, and often are worn into ditches several inches deep. In the late spring and summer, when the grass and other vegetation in their habitat is tall and rank, offering complete concealment, the runways are abandoned and cuttings of rejected food are found scattered over the surface of the ground. The food of the Townsend meadow mice includes the succulent leaves and stems of many grasses and annuals. Near Seattle the staple summer food is the velvet grass (_Holcus lanatus_), although many other plants, including the horsetail (_Equisetum arvense_), are eaten. In winter the common cattail is eaten. Couch (1925: 200) found caches of the roots of mint (_Mentha canadensis_) stored by this species. As much as 14 quarts was found in a single cache. The cup-shaped nests of Townsend meadow mice near Seattle were below ground. Embryos were found from May 4 to May 20 and varied in number from 5 to 8 with a mean of 7. In the San Juan Islands the nests of _M. t. pugeti_ were under driftwood. =Microtus townsendii townsendii= (Bachman) _Arvicola townsendii_ Bachman, Jour. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, 8 (pt. 1):60, 1839. _Arvicola occidentalis_ Peale, U. S. Expl. Exped., Mammalogy, p. 45, 1848 (type from Puget Sound). _M[icrotus]. townsendi_ Miller, N. Amer. Fauna, 12:66, July 23, 1896. _Microtus townsendii townsendii_ Svihla and Svihla, Murrelet, 14:40, May, 1933.