64: FRIENDS WORTH KNOWING. 



ferocious, and of waging battles constantly among them- 

 selves. Their food is the tender stems of young grasses 

 and herbs, seeds, nuts, roots, and bark, and they lay up 

 stores of food for the winter, since none become torpid at 

 that season, as is the habit of the woodchuck and chip- 

 monk, except the jumping-mouse. This fellow, during cold 

 weather, curls up in his soft grass blankets underground, 

 wraps his long tail tightly about him, and becomes dead to 

 all outward things until the warmth of spring revives him, 

 which is certainly an easy and economical way to get 

 through the winter! They also eat insects, old and young, 

 particularly such kinds as are hatched underground or in 

 the loose wood of rotten stumps ; but their main subsist- 

 ence is seeds and bark, in getting which they do a vast deal 

 of damage to plants and young fruit-trees with those sharp 

 front teeth of theirs. 



The field-mice make snug beds in old stumps, under logs, 

 inside stacks of corn, and bundles of straw; dig out gal- 

 leries below the grass roots ; occupy the abandoned nests of 

 birds and the holes made by other animals ; and even weave 

 nests of their own in weeds and bushes. They live well in 

 captivity, and you can easily see them at work if you sup- 

 ply materials. 



In tearing down old buildings the carpenters often find 



