SOME OBSERVATIONS ON BRITISH MICE. 349 



He was not a bigoted vegetarian, however, and on one 

 occasion I saw him greatly relish a blue-bottle. He heard 

 the sound of buzzing in his sleeping box, where I had put 

 the fly, and he presently apj^eared with the insect in his 

 mouth. It was devoured with great gusto at a single 

 sitting ; he rejected the head, legs, and hard covering of the 

 abdomen. I kept him for some time in an ordinary wire 

 mouse-cage, to which he became much attached ; and, one 

 day, when running loose on the floor of a room he was 

 startled by a footstep, he ran at once for home. 



Amongst themselves, I am told, they wage most deter- 

 mined battles. The males, in spring, will fight with great 

 courage and fierceness ; and when the conflict is decided, the 

 one who is beaten is devoured by his successful antagonist. 



One of the most interesting facts connected with the his- 

 tory of the harvest-mouse is the cleverly constructed nest. 

 The description given by White is so invariably quoted in 

 the Natural History books, that for the sake of variety, and 

 also because it is a more exact description, I give Dr. 

 Gloger's account of a nest which he had the opportunity of 

 examining. 



" It was beautifully and elaborately constructed of the 

 panicles and leaves of three stems of the common reed 

 woven together, and forming a roundish ball, suspended on 

 the living plants at a height of about five inches from the 

 ground. On the side opposite to the stems, rather below the 

 middle, was a small aperture, which appeared to be closed 

 during the absence of the parent, and was scarcely observ- 

 able, even after one of the young had made its escape 

 through it. The inside, when examined with the little 

 finger, was found to be soft and warm, smooth and neatly 

 rounded, but very confined. The nest contained but five 

 young; but one, less elaborately formed, was found to con- 



