GNAAVING ANIMALS RODENTS 



113 



Neither dormice nor nightingales care to isolate 

 themselves in the solitudes of the heart of the wood. 

 Disused birds^ nests and even nesting boxes are 

 occasionally appropriated by dormice. 



The young are born in the spring. The family 

 numbers two to four. Thev are at first blind and 





Fig. 34. — The Dormouse asleep {Mas cardinus avellanarius) 

 (Photo, from life by H. C. Wood.) 



mouse-grey in colour, except the head and flanks, 

 which are reddish-brown. The adult dormouse, as 

 is well known, is reddish-brown on the back, under- 

 neath it is yellowish-white, and it has a white throat. 

 The head and body are 24- to 3 inches long, and 

 the tail, which is also reddish-brown like the back, 

 with a black tip, is slightly shorter. Dormice are 



8 



