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to remark that both hares and rabbits, when allowed to increase too much, 

 become exceedingly destructive to the crops and tender herbage of all kinds. 



Dormouse.— This little animal is about 5i inches long, of which the tail 

 is 2^. It is a native of this country and of Southern Europe; it is not 

 a very common animal in most parts of England. The colour of its fur is 

 light reddish brown on the back, yellowisli white on the abdomen, and whte 

 on the throat. It lives in trees and shrubs, and builds a comfortable nest, 

 in which it sleeps nearly all day and nearly all winter ; its food is seeds, nuts, 

 and beetles. The tail is thickly covered with hair, and the hind feet are 

 prehensile. The fore limbs are capable of great rotary motion, and the 

 clavicles are perfect ; they differ from all other Rodents in possessing 

 no cacum. The fore feet have four toes and a wart for the thumb; 

 they are clawless, the hind feet have five toes and small claws. 

 These animals are interesting as examples of hibernation, which is a state of 

 sound .dumber in which they pass most of the winter. While in this condition 

 all the vital functions of the body are much depressed, and respiration 

 almost ceases. The animal always commences the hibernating season fat, 

 which fat is gradually used up as fuel to maintain the temperature of the 

 bodj', which, however, is much lower than at other times. 



Squirrel. — I will now close these few remarks by a brief notice of the 

 Squirrel. This pretty little rodent is of a chestnut brown colour, and 

 possesses a very handsome bushy tail. Its head is somewhat roimd in form, 

 and its jaws and teeth very strong ; its food consists of nuts and seeds, and it is 

 also said sometimes to indulge a carnivorous appetite and eat birds' eggs and 

 even young birds. Its habitat is among the branches of trees, where it builds 

 a most comfortable nest in the fork of two or more branches, and lives all 

 the year round with its mate, hibernating in the winter. It displays 

 amazing activity in leaping about from branch to branch, and its toes are 

 gifted with sharp and strong claws. The squirrel breeds once a j'ear, and 

 produces three or four young at a litter. Like other hibernating animals, 

 it gets very fat towards the close of autumn, and it lays up in various 

 places a store of nuts, &c., for consumption during winter and spring, and 

 occasionally wakes out of its slumber to refresh itself from these stores. 



