THE HARVEST MOUSE. 559 
goldfinch. In the first, the creature entirely failed, but was tolerably successful in its 
imitation of the mild notes of the goldfinch. The same animal would begin to sing if 
a melody were played in the minor key, but would give no response to the major. The 
fondness of Mice for music is already well known, and may afford some clue to their 
sensitiveness of ear. I believe, by the way, that the untaught cries of all the lower 
animals, whether they be quadrupeds or birds, are in the minor key. 
SMALLEST, and perhaps the prettiest, of the British mammalia, the elegant little 
Harvest Mouse next claims our attention. The total length of this tiny creature is not 
quite five inches, its tail being nearly two inches and a half in length, The colour of its 
fur is a delicate reddish-brown, the base of each 
hair taking the darker tint, and the point 
warming into red, while the under parts @ the 
abdomen are white. The line of demarcation i iy 
between the brown and white is well defined. ia 
The description which is given of the Harvest 
Mouse and its wonderful nest, by the Rey. 
Gilbert White, is so well known that it need 
only be casually mentioned. I have fortunately 
had opportunities of verifying his observations 
by means of a nest which was found in a field 
in Wiltshire by some mowers. 
It was built upon a scaffolding of four of the 
rank grass-stems that are generally found on 
the sides of ditches, and was situated at some 
ten or eleven inches from the ground. In form 
it was globular, rather larger than a cricket-ball, 
and was quite empty, having probably been 
hardly completed when the remorseless scythe 
struck down the scaffolding and wasted all the 
elaborate labour of the poor little architect. The 
material of which it was composed was thin 
dry grass of nearly uniform substance, and its 
texture was remarkably loose, so that any object 
contained in it could be seen through the inter- 
stices as easily as if it had been placed in a lady’s 
open-worked knitting basket. There was no 
vestige of aperture in any part of it, so that 
the method by which it was constructed seems 
quite enigmatical. 
I am inclined to suppose that the little 
builder remained in its centre while engaged in 
its construction, and after weaving it around her, 
pushed her way out through the loosely woven 
wall, and re-arranged the gap from the outside. 
It may be that the nest is the joimt work of 
both sexes, the one remaining inside and plaiting 
the grass, while her mate brings fresh material, and consolidates the work from the 
exterior. 
Perhaps the young Mice, when snugly packed into their airy cradle, may be fed by the 
mother from the exterior, by making a temporary opening opposite each little one, and 
replacing the material when she proceeds to the next in succession. This is Mr, White's 
suggestion, and seems to be a very probable one. He also wonders how the little nest, 
which was entirely filled by the bodies of the eight young Harvest Mice that lay cradled 
in its embrace, could expand so as to accommodate itself to their increasing dimensions. 
This problem may be answered by the fact that the loose structure of the nest is precisely 
4 
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HARVEST MOUSE.—Micromys minitus. 
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