70 FRIENDS WORTH KNOWING. 



Buckland has related. When oysters are left out of water 

 for any length of time, especially in hot weather, they al- 

 ways open their shells a little way, probably seeking a 

 drink of water. A mouse hunting about for food found 

 such an oyster in the larder, and put his head in to nibble 

 at the oyster's beard ; instantly the bivalve shut his shells, 



T11E MOUSE AND THE OYSTER. 



and held them together so tightly by his strong muscles 

 that the poor mouse could not pull his head out, and so 

 died of suffocation. Other similar cases have been known. 

 The most common of all our field-mice is the short-tailed 

 meadow-mouse, the Arvicola. I find it in the woods, out 

 on the prairies, and in the hay -fields. In summer these lit- 



