54 HARVEST MOUSE. 



that though they hang their nests for breeding up 

 amidst the straws of the standing corn, above the 

 ground, yet I find that, in the winter, they burrow 



and her various attitudes, in cleaning her face, head, and body, 

 with her paws, were peculiarly graceful and elegant. For a 

 few days after I received this mouse, I neglected to give it 

 any Water ; but when I afterwards put some into the cage, 

 she lapped it with great eagerness. After lapping, she always 

 raised herself on her hind feet, and cleaned her head with 

 her paws. She continued, even till the time of her death, 

 exceedingly shy and timid, but whenever I put into the cage 

 any favourite food, such as grains of wheat or maize, she 

 would eat them before me. On the least noise or motion, 

 however, she immediately ran off, with the grains in her 

 mouth, to her hiding-place. One evening, as I was sitting 

 at my writing-desk, and the animal was playing about in the 

 open part of its cage, a large blue fly happened to buzz against 

 the wires ; the little creature, although at twice or thrice the 

 distance of her own length from it, sprang along the wires 

 with the greatest agility, and would certainly have seized it, 

 had the space betwixt the wires been sufficiently wide to have 

 admitted her teeth or paws to reach it. I was surprised at 

 this occurrence, as I had been led to believe that the harvest 

 mouse was merely a granivorous animal. I caught the fly, 

 and made it buzz in my fingers against the wires. The mouse, 

 though usually shy and timid, immediately came out of her 

 hiding-place, and running to the spot, seized and devoured 

 it. From this time I fed her with insects whenever I could 

 get them ; and she always preferred them to every other kind 

 of food that I offered her. When this mouse was first put 

 into her cage, a piece of fine flannel was folded up into the 

 dark part of it as a bed, and I put some grass and bran into 

 the large open part. In the course of a few days, all the 

 grass was removed ; and, on examining the cage, I found it 

 very neatly arranged between the folds of the flannel, arid 

 rendered more soft by being mixed with the nap of the 

 flannel, which the animal had torn off in considerable quantity 

 for the purpose. The chief part of this operation must 

 have taken place in the night; for although the mouse was 

 generally awake and active during the day time, yet I never 

 once observed it employed in removing the grass. On opening 



