THE BEAVER FAMILY. 



149 



especially seeds, small nuts, and the like. 

 Their stomach is incompletely divided into 

 two sections. The large species are remark- 

 ably voracious, and, like the squirrels, are 

 ruthless destroyers of birds' nests. In autumn 

 they become very fat, and their winter sleep is 

 not less deep than that of the marmots. Out 

 of three European 

 species the largest and 

 the smallest have been 

 selected for illustra- 

 tion. 



The Loir or Com- 

 mon Dormouse of the 

 European mainland 

 (Myoxus ghs), fig- 

 207, resembles the 

 squirrel most on ac- 

 count of its bushy tail, 

 which may attain the 

 length of 6 inches, 

 almost the same as 

 that of the body. Of 

 the four cheek-teeth 

 the two middle ones 

 are the largest. They 

 have four deep folds of 

 enamel, into which fit 

 three opposite folds. 

 The head with its round blunt ears resembles 

 that of a rat. The thick silky fur is of a gray 

 colour, inclining more to brown on the back 

 and the tail, which has the hair arranged in 

 two rows. The loir lives chiefly in Eastern 

 and Southern Europe, preferring oak and 

 beech woods for its home. It builds its nest 

 in hollow trees or in holes in the rocks, but 

 never exposed in the fork between two 

 branches like squirrels. It collects stores, 

 and wakes on warm winter days to eat. 

 The Romans prized this animal so highly 

 that they used to keep specimens of it in 

 cages called gliraria. The loir is easily 

 caught in traps; and it is very ready to 

 settle in the box -nests which are set up 

 in some districts for starlings and tits. In 



captivity the loir is ill-natured; its bites are 



severe. 



The Common Dormouse, the Hazel Mouse 

 of the Germans (Muscardinus (Myoxus) 

 avellanarius), fig. 208, is just as gentle and 

 agreeable in its disposition as the loir is 

 ill-natured and disagreeable. It is a charm- 

 ing little creature of 

 about the size of an 

 ordinary mouse, of a 

 reddish-yellow colour, 

 with a tail about as 

 long as the body, but 

 not very hairy. It 

 frequents shrubberies, 

 and is particularly 

 fond of hazel hedges 

 and thickets; and it 

 advances as far to the 

 north and ascends as 

 high in the mountains 

 as its favourite plant 

 does. The dormouse 

 builds a very artistic 

 round nest, in which 

 it rolls itself up in the 

 form of a ball. It 

 can easily be kept in 

 birds' cages, and it 

 makes an agreeable pet on account of its 

 cleanliness, its graceful movements, and its 

 gentle and affectionate disposition. 



THE BEAVER FAMILY 



(CASTORIDA). 



The Beaver (Castor fiber) may well be 

 referred to a separate family, although it is 

 the only species belonging to it. Formerly 

 the beaver was spread over all the temperate 

 and cold countries of 'both hemispheres. It 

 was so much sought after for the sake of its 

 flesh, its fur, and the castoreum, a product 

 yielded by both sexes and highly prized in 

 medicine, that at the present day it is con- 

 fined to Eastern Europe, Siberia, Canada, 



Loir (Myoxus gits}. 



