MUS MUSCULUS. 163 



in the fertile valleys along the outskirts of the Wilderness, living in 

 the fields durinfj- the short summer season, and returning- to the 

 dwellings, barns, and haystacks at the approach of winter. 



It is omnivorous, and, in the main, nocturnal. It usually gives 

 birth to from five to nine young at a time, and has several litters in 

 a season. 



TJie House Mouse as a l^ocalist. 



It has long been known that individuals of the common House 

 Mouse occasionally possess very exceptional vocal powers. These 

 "singing mice" have appeared, from time to time, in various parts 

 of the country, and their performances have been eagerly listened to 

 and carefully recorded by the delighted hearers. 



My aunt, Mrs. Helen M. Bagg, once had a singing Mouse in her 

 house at Detroit, Michigan, and has kindly favored me with the fol- 

 lowing account of it : " Early in the spring of i858 I would occasion- 

 ally hear faint musical sounds, like the warbling of a young bird, issue 

 from the china closet, which was on one side of the dinine room. 

 Several days passed before I could get any clew to the sounds. We 

 had singing birds — a mocking bird and canaries — and every one de- 

 clared it was the birds I had heard, but I felt equally certain the 

 sounds came from the closet. One afternoon when the house was 

 quiet, the children taking their naps, and the cook having ceased to 

 rattle her dishes, I opened the closet door and sat down where I 

 could have a full view of the inside. After a long and patient waiting 

 a mouse peered out from behind the plates, climbed up a little way on 

 the brackets, and, after lookino- around several times, beean to sing- ! 

 I need not describe my feelings. Its song was not much of a song, 

 ' as songs go,' but still a distinct musical effort. Sometimes it would 

 run up an octave and end with a decided attempt at a trill. Some- 

 times it would try to trill all the notes. An octave seemed to be 

 about its range. I could distiiicdy see the expansion and vibration 

 of its throat and chest as one can in a song bird. Its favorite posi- 



