64 FRIENDS WORTH KNOWING. 
ferocious, and of waging battles constantly among them- 
selves. Their food is the tender stems of young grasses 
and herbs, seeds, nuts, roots, and bark, and they lay up 
stores of food for the winter, since none become torpid at 
that season, as is the habit of the woodchuck and. chip- 
monk, except the jumping-mouse. This fellow, during cold 
weather, curls up in his soft grass blankets underground, 
wraps his long tail tightly about him, and becomes dead to 
all outward things until the warmth of spring revives him, 
which is certainly an easy and economical way to get 
through the winter! They also eat insects, old and young, 
particularly such kinds as are hatched underground or in 
the loose wood of rotten stumps; but their main subsist- 
ence is seeds and bark, in getting which they do a vast deal 
of damage to plants and young fruit-trees with those sharp 
front teeth of theirs. 
The field-mice make snug beds in old stumps, under logs, 
inside stacks of corn, and bundles of straw; dig out gal- 
leries below the grass roots; occupy the abandoned nests of 
birds and the holes made by other animals; and even weave 
nests of their own in weeds and bushes. They live well in 
captivity, and you can easily see them at work if you sup- 
ply materials. 
In tearing down old buildings the carpenters often find 
