THE RODENTS. 69 



The external features of this little animal are suffici- 

 ently familiar to render any description unnecessary. The 



arched body, bushy tail, rounded head, and 

 ppearauce, prominent eyes, the ears surmounted by tufts 



of hair, the long, curved claws in which the 

 animal grasps the refractory nut, — all these are unmis- 

 takably the squirrel's. In colour, which is subject to 

 considerable variation according to season, it is usually 

 reddish above and white on the underparts. In winter 

 there is a good deal of grey in the coat. The tail has 

 in some cases been observed to be of a creamy yellow at 

 all seasons, and not, as Bell had it, in late summer only. 

 During the breeding season the ear -tufts are shed, and 

 are not renewed until the late autumn. The Squirrel is 

 a rai^id swimmer, and Mr J. G. Millais has in his latest 

 work ^ given a striking picture of its action in the water. 



2. The Dormouse. 



The dormouse is widely distributed over the south of 

 England, though apparently unknown in the Highlands 

 and in Ireland. Though physically far nearer the mice, this 

 little animal bears in its general mode of existence, in its 

 choice of food and methods of eating and storing it, a 

 marked resemblance to the squirrel, the chief differences 

 in habit being found in the nocturnal activity of the dor- 

 mouse and in its regular hibernation. For, 

 Hibernatiou. ^^^ .^ • i • i i • • i 



unlike the squirrel, it slumbers intermittently 



for almost six months out of the twelve, though the first 

 mild day suffices to awaken it, when it promptly feeds on 

 its stored nuts, and slumbers again. Though October is the 

 season at which most dormice fall asleep, it is observed 

 that those of the year go into retirement somewhat later. 

 When awakened artificially from its slumber, the dormouse 

 becomes very active for a short period, then relapses into 

 slumber, nor does such interference usually have fatal 

 1 British. Deer and their Horns, p. 44. 



