DORMOUSE. 235 



toes, and a rudimentary inner toe, the posterior 

 with five ; the claws small, compressed, acute ; the 

 tail long. The mystachial bristles are large; the 

 fur very soft and dense ; the hair on the tail longish, 

 and inclined in two directions. The general colour 

 is light yellowish-red, gradually becoming paler 

 beneath, the fore part of the neck nearly white ; the 

 tail dull-red. 



Inches. Lines. 



Length to end of tail 5 3 



Length of the head 10 



Length of the tail 2 6 



In its habits the Dormouse resembles the Squirrel, 

 inasmuch as it climbs with facility, and exhibits 

 great liveliness and agility ; but it is also allied to 

 the Mice, and passes a great part of its time on the 

 ground, feeding on grass, corn, and various small 

 fruits. It resides in thickets, generally remote from 

 human habitations, placing its . nest in bushes, and 

 forming it of grass and leaves, intricately interlaced, 

 and disposed in a roundish form, with a narrow 

 aperture at the top. Having laid up a store of 

 food, and, like other hibernating animals, having 

 become very fat towards the end of autumn, it be- 

 takes itself to its retreat, and rolling itself up into 

 a ball, falls into a state of torpidity, from which it 

 is now and then aroused by an unusually mild day, 

 when it partakes of its provision, and relapses into 

 its usual condition. The young are of a brownish- 

 grey colour, four or five in number. This species, 



