BRITISH QUADRUPEDS. 49 



pect that all dopcnds on circumstances and environment, and that 

 all would at a pinch oat vegetable food if they could get nothing 

 better. 



The Rodents, or " gnawers," as I suppose they might be termed, 

 comprise the sipiirrel, the dormouse, the rats, the mice, the voles, 

 the hare, and the rabbit. 



The Squii'rel {Set urns vnli/an's) is a great ornament of our woods, 

 and if caught young is easily tamed. I was paying a call some 

 time since at a house where one was loose in a room. The little 

 wretch (juickly found out that I was clothed in a rough suit, into 

 wliich his claws would easily stick. So he began running all over 

 me. I did not dare to take hold of him and put him into his cage, 

 as squirrels' teeth are mai-vellously sharp and they have a very pretty 

 notion indeed of using them, so I was obliged to wait until his 

 mistress came and relieved me of his attentions. 



The Dormouse {Mi/oxus avellanarius) is a very pretty little 

 creature, celebrated for its capacities for sleeping. When awake 

 it is active enough, and climbs with great agility among the 

 shrubs and bushes which it frequents. Its colour is tawny red. 

 Scientifically it occupies a position intermediate between the 

 squii-rel and the mice, having many of the characteristics of the 

 former. 



Of Rats we have two distinct species, the black {If us rattus), 

 and the brown {Miis decumanus). The latter is only too well 

 known ; the black rat is becoming very rare indeed, and is sup- 

 posed to owe its extermination to its more enterprising rival. The 

 ears of the black rat are large and its hair is long and silky. They 

 used to be very numerous in Whitbread's Brewery, but I am told 

 by Mr. Edgar Lubbock that none are now seen there. Among 

 the specimens at South Kensington several are labelled as having 

 come from Portsmouth, and I am told that they are found on Lundy 

 Island. A specimen has been lent to me by Dr. Brett. Against 

 the brown rat every man's hand is raised, and, were it not for their 

 extraordinary fecundity, the animals would soon be extinct. They 

 find their way everywhere, especially on board ships, and are thus 

 frequently introduced into places where none previously existed — • 

 not always to the advantage of the inhabitants. They have in this 

 way been imported into Puffin Island, and have exterminated the 

 puffins. On shipboard, and often in other localities, want of water 

 is felt by the rats, and to acquire this they will gnaw through 

 thick pipes, and adopt numerous other devices, such as climbing 

 the rigging, to lick the raindrops off the cordage. In former days 

 many men gained a livelihood by catching rats in the London 

 sewers, and selling them at 3s. a dozen to the sporting public- 

 houses, where supplies were always kept (and duly advertised in 

 * Bell's Life ') for matches with dogs. This entertainment has 

 been prohibited by recent legislation. 



Of the Yoles, the one most commonly seen is the water-vole, or 

 "water-rat, as it is often called {Arvicola amphtbius), which we meet 

 "with so frequently on the banks of our streams and ditches. The 



