ISO 



nearly exterminated tte old English, or Black Rat, and has overspread ih6 

 whole country. It is one of the few instances in the order of carnivorous 

 tastes, and indeed the rat may be called an omnivorous animal, as nothing 

 seems to come amiss to it. Some z-ats, called Sewer Rats, from their ordinary 

 place of habitation, are much larger and fiercer, and have a violent appetite 

 for blood ; and when in numbers have been known to attack a man with 

 fatal results. They also frequently devour one another, and as it is an 

 acknowledged fact that the number of male rats is much gieater than the 

 number of females, it has been supposed that owing to the greater tender- 

 ness and delicacy of the female flesh, and also perhaps to their being the 

 weaker vessels, they are more often devoured than the males. Rats are said to 

 produce three broods in a year, and to bring forth from 8 to 14 at a brood, 

 and to begin to breed at 4 months, so that they are immensely prolific. The 

 female rat is a good mother, and will defend her offspring against any 

 attack, and especially against the visits of their paternal parent, who, when 

 he comes to see his offspring, usually wants to eat them. The brown Rat 

 is a quick and clever animal, and endowed with acute perceptive faculties, 

 and has been frequently tamed and taught tricks. There are several in- 

 stances of the foresight and intelligence of rats, and there is a saying that 

 rats will always desert a falling or burning house shortly before the event. 



Black Rat.— The Black Rat is so called from the darker hue of its fur. 

 It is very similar in general appearance to the brown rat, but rather 

 smaller, and its ears and tail are proportionally longer. The upper jaw 

 also projects over the lower. The Black Rat exists in the temperate regions 

 of Europe and Asia. It has been nearly exterminated, however, in many 

 places by the larger and fiercer Brown Rat. 



Common Mouse.— This well-known little animal has something of the 

 appearance of a rat in miniature. It belongs to the same genus, and often 

 has the same habitat. It is a purely vegetable feeder, and closely follows 

 upon the steps of man. It is easily tamed, and the variegated specimens 

 are pretty little creatures. It is, like the rat, very prolific. There are 

 several well authenticated records of mice giving forth musical sounds, but 

 opinions differ as to the originating cause of these sounds. Some suppose 

 them to be the result of a bronchial disease, and others that they are 

 learned by the mice by their power of imitation. The sounds when produced 

 are a kind of chirping whistle. 



Hauvkst Mouse.— I pass on now to notice the Harvest Mouse. This 

 little animal is the smallest British Mammal, and is exceedingly pretty and 

 elegant ; the colour of its fur is reddish brown on the back and white on the 

 abdomen. The whole length of the animal is less than five inches, and the tail 

 takes two-and-a-half of that. It feeds upon grain, and when very numerous 

 creates great destruction. It also lives upon insects. Its tail is prehensile. 

 It forms a pretty little nest upon a stalk of com or grass, composed of dried 

 grass, and about the size of a cricket ball. The nest has no aperture, but the 



