22 THE DORMOUSE 



ground is covered with snow for weeks they work in the grass, 

 shearing off the grassy and mossy soil-covering, so that after the 

 snow has departed the fluff peels off as completely and leaves the 

 soil as bare as similar ground skimmed with a turfing spade. Like 

 damage is done by the field vole when the ground is covered with 

 snow for a lengthened period. 



DORMOUSE (M^lscard^nus avellanarim) , Fig. 20, a member of 

 the Rodentia and family Myoxidse, appears to be intermediate 

 between the mice (Muridae) and the squirrels (Sciuridae), and there 

 are three varieties, the Common, the Garden, and the Hazel, local 

 in respective distribution, the two former being confined to the 

 warmer tracts of southern and central England, and the latter 

 more frequent throughout the northern tracts of Europe. The 

 dormice live in copses and among brushwood, through which they 



FIG. 20. THE DORMOUSE. 



make their way with much rapidity, but not with the spright- 

 liness and activity of the squirrels. The pace is a sort of leap, in 

 which assistance appears to be afforded by the tail. The nest 

 is made of grass, moss and dried leaves, about 6 inches in diameter, 

 and open only from above. The number of young is generally 

 three or four. It is not uncommon for several nests to be close 

 to each other, evincing its fondness of society. 



Dormice feed during the night-time and hybernate during the 

 winter, with few interruptions, only a warm day rousing them 

 from their slumbers when rolled up with the tail coiled round the 

 body. Before retiring for the winter into the hollows of trees or 



