THE PtODENTS. 75 



from Ireland, and another from the Outer Hebrides. 

 The name wood -mouse is not entirely satisfactory, for 

 Wood- the species is more commonly met with in 



Mouse or corn -fields and among the ricks, and has 

 Field- even been recorded in dwellings. Like the 



Mouse. squirrel, this animal becomes inactive, but 



not actually torpid, during the cold weather. 



The wood-mouse feeds principally on grain, and is one 

 of the farmer's worst enemies. It also lays up vast stores 

 of grain in underground granaries. Humble- 

 bees are said indeed to form a favourite article 

 of food, but it is improbable that this animal is to any 

 extent anything but a vegetable-feeder. It has, however, 

 been known, in common with others of the family, to 

 eat considerable quantities of putty without apparently 

 suffering any ill effects. On occasion, too, it has been 

 known to develop cannibal tastes and to devour its own 

 offspring — a tendency oftenest observed in the buck shortly 

 after the young are born. 



The wood-mouse is prolific above most of its prolific 

 race. Some years ago Mr Barrington made a calculation 

 in the 'Zoologist,' by which he showed that 

 ^' a doe could produce from fifteen to twenty 

 young in the course of four or five months. Were it not 

 that this mouse is a favourite article of food wdth ow^ls, 

 weasels, and foxes, its increase w^ould be an alarming prob- 

 lem for the farmer. As it is, its numbers are kept well under, 

 and it rarely makes its presence felt as do the voles. It nests 

 for the most part, like its fellows, in the ground, but is also 

 known to rear its young in deserted nests in high trees. 



The hind-feet are slender and w^hite, as are all the lower 

 parts, including the under- surface of the tail, the last 

 named being about the same length as the 

 ^^ " ' body, or a trifle less. Ears, with a projecting 

 lobe, not much shorter than the head. In col- 

 our, reddish above, with a dark patch on the white breast. 



