MUS MINUTUS. 23 



NOTE vm. 



ON THE WINTERNEST OF THE DWARF-MOUSE 

 (MUS MINUTUS). 



BY 



H. SCHLEGEL. 



December 1880. 



The mode of nidification of tlie Dwarf- or Harvest-Mouse , 

 essentially different from that of its congeners, is a fact 

 well known to naturalists , and so singular in its nature , that 

 it must attract the curiosity of every one. 



Little , however, is known about the varieties which the 

 nests present and nothing at all about the very different 

 kinds of nests , which the little animal builds in certain lo- 

 calities for its retreat in the cold season. 



Although spread over a great part of Europe as far as 

 Western Asia, the Dwarf-Mouse is generally reputed a 

 species of rare occurrence. This fact finds its explication 

 in several circumstances. The little creature easily escapes 

 the attention of man on account of its diminuative size 

 and the rapidity of its motions. In other instances it is 

 taken, notwithstanding the difference in colour, for the 

 young of the common wild mouse {Mus sylvaticus). The 

 nests are generally regarded by the people as bird's nests , 

 and this goes §o far, that even experienced hunters 

 could not be convinced of the contrary. When I called 

 the attention of some mowers to these nests , they assu- 

 red me , that they had occasionally seen them in the fields , 



JS'otes from tbe Leyden ^uBeum , "Vol. III. 



