WILD-MICE. 65 



If, however, there is but the one mouse in our mead- 

 ows, it is not so devoid of interest as might be thought, 

 from the fact that it elicits generally no further remark 

 than that " it is nothing but a meadow-mouse." 



Let us see what constitutes a meadow-mouse. As 

 a furry entity dwelling in a bunch of grass and living 

 on the seeds thereof, he is monotony itself; but some- 

 times, as I have found, there is a variation from this pro- 

 saic style of keeping house, and then the despised mead- 

 ow-mouse is a creature of decided interest. 



For instance, I find in my note-books, under date of 

 May 23, 1882, that in wandering along the margin of a 

 low or "mucky" meadow, I came across a large but 

 thoroughly rotted log. On giving the log a kick and a 

 push with my cane, I saw that I had disturbed a whole 

 host of creatures of various kinds. A meadow-mouse 

 ran into the reeds near by, a swarm of black ants covered 

 one end of the log, while untold thousands of red ants 

 covered the other, and finally a white -footed mouse 

 showed itself through a knot-hole and scampered off 

 with a squeak. Seeing this much at a preliminary glance 

 of the rotten log, I forthwith instituted a detailed exami- 

 nation, with the following results : Between the semi-de- 

 tached bark and the log itself there was a neatly-made 

 nest of long grasses occupied by the white-footed mice. 

 There they resorted when not foraging, and had every- 

 thing cozily arranged for future contingencies. I was very 

 sorry that I had so rudely upset their plans, as Mrs. 

 "White-foot was evidently in an interesting condition. In 

 the center of the decayed log, a family of meadow-mice 

 had constructed a very elaborate home. There were 

 three well-made tunnels leading to an interior chamber, 

 which was of sufficient size to accommodate a dozen mice 

 without crowding. This nest or " room " was partly 



