118 ITS HABITS. 



another and still smaller covered way, when his 

 attention was excited by loud shouts and laughter, 

 accompanied with a general" running and scrambling 

 of the people, as if some sport was going on. He 

 soon found that the object of pursuit was a jumping 

 mouse, whose agility afforded a most amusing spec- 

 tacle. When closely pressed, he ran rapidly, as if 

 seeking to conceal himself; but in a moment he 

 was seen vaulting into the air, and skimming along 

 for ten or twelve feet, more like a bird than a little 

 quadruped. After continuing for some time, and 

 almost wearying his pursuers with running and fall- 

 ing one over the other, the sprightly creature was 

 killed accidentally in one of his beautiful leaps. As 

 the mowers saw nothing worthy of attention in the 

 dead body of the animal, they willingly resigned it 

 to the naturalist, who retreated beneath the shade 

 of a willow to consider its elegant proportions. The 

 general appearance was mouse -like, but the length 

 and slenderness of the body, the shortness of the 

 fore, and disproportionate length of the hind limbs, 

 together with a peculiar tail, all indicated its adap- 

 tation for bounding leaps. The sight of this crea- 

 ture, thus formed to vault through the air, strongly 

 reminded him of the great New Holland kanguroo, 

 We know that these little animals feed on roots, 

 and on the seeds of vegetables, and that they fre- 

 quent the meadows, to make their nests among the 

 long grass, which is to them a forest. But how, it 

 may be asked, can such feeble creatures brave the 

 severity of a Transatlantic winter, when vegetation 

 is at rest, and snow lies deep upon the ground. 

 Here we have again occasion to observe the care of 



