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THE POPULAR EDUCATOK. 



It has been argued that it was a process of reasoning in a 

 practical fashion. Thus the rats may have heard a trickling 

 noise which they judged was produced by water, and as they 

 were in want of pure water, they forthwith commenced to bite 

 their way through the lead piping for it. 



The brown rat breeds several times during the year, having 

 ten to fourteen young ones in a litter. It has comparatively 

 short ears ; its throat and belly are of a dirty white, and the 

 upper part of its body of a light brown. It is about nine 

 inches long. 



The black rat (Mus rattus), or old English rat, is smaller 

 than its inveterate enemy, and appears less energetic from the 

 fact of its having been displaced so universally by it. The 

 black rat has comparatively larger ears than the brown rat, and 

 its upper surface is of a brownish-black colour, while its under 

 surface is of a dark ash colour. It is about seven inches long. 

 It is supposed to have come 

 originally from Southern 

 Asia. 



Eats of all colours 

 black, brown, and white 

 are supposed to be polyga- 

 mous. Nevertheless, the 

 males in a colony, accord- 

 ing to many observers, ex- 

 ceed the females in number. 

 Mr. F. Buckland found this 

 to be the case with a large 

 number of white rats that 

 he brought up. 



They are exceedingly 

 destructive animals, and 

 their rapid multiplication 

 makes them an enemy the 

 farmer has good reason to 

 fear. Their known delight 

 in certain strong scents, 

 such as the oils of rhodium, 

 carraway, and aniseed is 

 often taken advantage of 

 to destroy them. A rag, 

 which has not been in con- 

 tact with the human body, 

 is impregnated with one of 

 these substances, and laid 

 as if by accident in some 

 place to which they have 

 access. When they have 

 become accustomed to the 

 place they are further 

 enticed by bits of tallow, 

 &c., and finally poisoned 

 bait is laid in sufficient 

 quantity to poison all the 

 rats that frequent the 

 locality. 



The common mouse (Mus musculus) belongs to the same 

 family of gnawing animals, or rodents, as the rat. It is a pretty 

 little animal, as the reader will have seen in the occasional 

 glimpses he may have caught of it when it has been sur- 

 prised in some predatory exploit ; and no doubt he has often 

 likewise seen it when a prisoner within a cage of wire little 

 over a foot long and a few inches wide. Tempted by the bit of 

 cheese within the cage, it ventured in, and upon biting the 

 dainty morsel, heard a sudden snapping sound which sent a 

 thrill of fear throughout its little body. It madly rushed to 

 the entrance to find it closed. It hastily *an all round, but not 

 a single place of exit could it find ; it was surrounded by strong 

 wire bars. I am sure the reader pitied it. 



The mouse is associated with man as much as the rat, and 

 has accompanied him to nearly all climes. It haunts our houses, 

 and takes up its abode in the rick -yards, where it is very 

 destructive. It is not surprising, therefore, that it has figured 

 in the literature of all countries as the subject of both poem 

 and fable. 



The peculiar shrill noise which it makes will immediately 

 cause its natural enemy, the cat, to prick its ears, and be on 

 the alert for what it doubtless considers its legitimate prey. 



HARVEST MICE. 



Some mice have also been known to vary the pitch of the note 

 they emitted in such a manner as to earn the name of singing 

 mice. Specimens of such mice have often been exhibited, but 

 imposture has been commonly suspected. A well-known 

 observer, however, has placed on record what was heard with 

 his own ears of the performance of an American species of 

 mouse, the Hesperomys cognatus, belonging to a genus distinct 

 from that of the English mouse. Mr. Lockwood, the observer 

 referred to, says that in one of the two chief songs that were 

 sung by his imprisoned mouse, " the last bar would frequently 

 be prolonged to two or three ; and she would sometimes change 

 from C sharp and D to C natural and D, then warble on these 

 two notes awhile, and wind up with a quick chirp on C sharp 

 and D. The distinctness between the semitones was very 

 marked, and easily appreciable to a good ear." 



There are two kinds of British mice which do not live in 



houses, the long-tailed field 

 mouse (Mus sylvaticus) and 

 the harvest mouse (Mus 

 minutus). They dwell in 

 fields and gardens. 



The long-tailed field 

 mouse is about four inches 

 long, of a yellowish-brown 

 colour above and whitish 

 beneath. Its tail is as 

 long as its body, and 

 brown above and white 

 beneath. It burrows under 

 the ground, or utilises de- 

 serted mole-runs, laying 

 up there a considerable 

 store of grain and seeds 

 for winter use. It does 

 not confine itself exclu- 

 sively to a vegetable diet, 

 however, as it will devour 

 smaller and weaker animals 

 than itself in times of 

 scarcity. The short-eared 

 owl is one of the most 

 efficient agents of its de- 

 struction. 



The harvest mouse is a 

 tiny little creature, so 

 light, weighing about the 

 sixth part of an ounce, 

 that it can run up corn 

 stalks with the same faci- 

 lity as a monkey would run 

 up a palm tree. It feeds 

 on grain of various kinds, 

 worms, flies, and other in- 

 sects. When full grown ita 

 body is about two and a 

 quarter inches long, and its 



tail is nearly of the same length. It is of a reddish-brown 

 colour on its upper surface and pure white below. 



The harvest mouse has one of the prettiest nests devised 

 by a mammal, and, in making it, exhibits considerable con- 

 structive skill, which is further improved as the little architect 

 grows older. A bird's nest is a truly admirable piece of work, 

 and Hurdis has eulogised it in some fine lines which are equally 

 applicable to the work of the harvest mouse, for we may say 

 of this little animal that it has no tool to work with, no knife 

 to fix, no bodkin to insert, yet its work is nicely finished, and 

 it would take a long apprenticeship to make such another. The 

 building, indeed, bears considerable resemblance to the nests 

 of the Tomtit. The interior of the nest is padded with all sorts 

 of soft vegetable substances, and the exterior is of the shape 

 and size of a goose's egg, and is formed of interwoven slit grass. 

 Each blade of grass is carefully divided lengthwise by the 

 mouse's teeth into six or eight filaments, and these are crossed 

 and intertwined so as to produce a firm exterior. The nest ia 

 generally at a height of a foot and a half to three feet above 

 the ground. In winter, the harvest mouse takes refuge in corn 

 or hay-ricks, or scratches out a burrow, which it lines with 

 wool, hair, or other soft substances. 



