104 



HARD WICKE ' S S CIENCE- G SSI P. 



THE ENGLISH FIELD-MOUSE. 



'T"'HE long-tailed field-mouse (^Mus sylvaticiis), 

 JL though comparatively well known to scientific 

 observers, is not, I think, so familiar to people 

 generally as one might suppose, considering its 

 abundance. 



Its habitat being chiefly the bottoms of hedges and 

 banks covered with herbage, its burrows are not 

 easily detected, nor is the mouse itself, for it rai'ely 

 ventures beyond the runs ; it works among the 

 tangled grass till darkness has fairly set in, and all 

 is quiet. Then it sallies forth in quest of food, 

 sometimes wandering to a great distance from its 

 home. 



The food of this little animal consists of the succu- 

 lent stems and roots of various plants, nuts and grain, 

 it is also particularly fond of beans and peas, as the 



Fig. 67. — Field Mouse (Mus sylvaticiis}. 



gardener knows to his cost, for often does he find 

 whole rows of carefully planted peas, scratched out 

 and devoured in a single night by these little animals 

 just as the shoots began to appear above ground. In 

 the autumn it ascends the hedges in quest of nuts and 

 haws, and like the dormouse is very fond of making 

 a vacated bird's nest its dining-room. 



Fleming, in his work on Natural History, states 

 that this mouse becomes torpid at a temperature of 

 43° Fahr. This statement is, however, incorrect, for 

 I have on many occasions caught them when the 

 temperature has been considerably below 32^. 



A friend of mind whilst walking through Talbot 

 Woods near here, on the evening of January 9th, 

 noticed a mouse run across the path in front of him; 

 following it, he had no difficulty in capturing it, for 

 the ground was covered with snow. It proved to be 

 a nearly adult specimen of the present species. It is 

 now in perfect health, and as it is at this moment by 



my side, I will, before concluding the remarks, point 

 out a few of its leading characters. But before doing 

 so I would state that I am much surprised that it is 

 not more frequently kept as a pet, for it is most 

 easily tamed as a rule, very amusing, and has the 

 great advantage over its near relative, the favourite 

 white mouse, of being almost entirely devoid of any 

 unpleasant smell. 



To effect its capture all one has to do is to go to 

 a bank bordering a ditch, or at the bottom of a hedge 

 and pull aside the grass, when its well-formed runs 

 will be detected ; in one of these place a mousetrap 

 (ordinary penny ones are most useful), baited with a 

 piece of bread, adjust the grass over it, and leave it 

 alone till morning. On revisiting the spot you are 

 nearly sure to find it contain either a long-tailed field- 

 mouse, or field or bank vole, generally the first 

 named. Some few individuals prove obstinate and 

 untractable, others seem naturally docile, and may 

 be handled with impunity at the moment of 

 capture. 



The most striking features of our little friend are its 

 large, prominent dark eyes, unsurpassed in brilliancy, 

 and its fine delicate ears. Its colour on the head, 

 back, sides and tail, is a rusty grey, plentifully inter- 

 mingled, especially along the back, with darker hairs. 

 This colour is prolonged down the outside of the 

 legs as far as the feet, near which it is of a lighter 

 and warmer tint. 



Below a line drawn from the meeting of the two 

 maxillary bones round the body to the end of the 

 tail, placed horizontally and dividing it equally, the 

 fur is externally of a pure white, excepting the leg 

 prolongation before mentioned ; the base of the hairs 

 is, however, of a bluish-black colour. The upper 

 surface of the feet is of a delicate flesh colour, the 

 lower red, and furnished with six tubercles on each. 

 It is about half as large again as the common house- 

 mouse, and far more attractive in every respect. 



Thomas J. Lane. 



UNCLASSIFIED NOTES ON THE INLAND 

 BIRDS OF CEYLON, 



By F. L. 



Introductory Remarks. 



AN apology is rarely a good preface, but an ex- 

 planation is often of some advantage to the 

 reader, as well as a satisfaction to the writer. This 

 being my case, I wish it to be clearly understood that 

 the following notes have been collected purely from 

 my own observations, and every measurement and 

 remark from a specimen that has fallen to my 

 gun, during a period of six years' ramblings in 

 Ceylon. 



Owing to the imperfect state of my notes, I have 

 not attempted to place my birds in anything like 



