482 



Life-histories of Northern Animals 



tlon and, indeed, died shortly after capture. On going to 

 the house (of W. J. Ptolemy) I was able to examine and 

 preserve the specimen; the parasites were still alive and very 

 large. (See Fig. 141.) 



SINGING 

 MICE 



Most persons are surprised to hear of singing Mice. The 

 first I met with was in my New York residence. Out of the 

 black darkness of a cupboard at midnight came a prolonged 



squeaking, thrilling, 

 and churring, sug- 

 gestive of a canary's 

 song, but of thinner 

 and weaker quality. 

 There could be no 

 question that it was 

 a 'singing Mouse.' 

 Many such cases are 

 on record. Some 

 have been explained 

 as the squeaking of 

 a Mouse in pain 

 from some internal 

 disease, particularly 

 of the vocal apparatus, but others have not, and there seems 

 good reason for believing that House-mice, and indeed all 

 Mice, will at times express their sense of well-being, in a series 

 of complicated sounds that correspond in every way with the 

 singing of birds. 



So far as known the Common Rat {Mus norvegicus) has 

 not yet established itself in Manitoba. 



Fig. 141 — The diseased Mouse and one of its parasites. 

 Both life size. 



