268 THE HARVEST MOUSE. 



them. She frequently rested on her hind-feet, 

 somewhat in the manner of the Jerboa, for the pur- 

 pose of looking about her; and in this attitude 

 could extend her body, at such an angle as at first 

 greatly surprised me. She was a beautiful little 

 animal; and her various attitudes in cleaning her 

 face, head, and body, with her paws, were peculiarly 

 graceful and elegant. 



For a few days after I received this Mouse, I 

 neglected to give it any water; but when I after- 

 wards put some into the cage, she lapped it with 

 great eagernesss. After lapping, she always raised 

 herself on her hind feet, and cleaned her head with 

 her paws. She continued, even till the time of her 

 death, exceedingly shy and timid ; but whenever I 

 put into the cage any favourite food, such as grains 

 of wheat or maize, she would eat them before me. 

 On the least noise or motion, however, she imme- 

 diately ran off", with the grain in her mouth, to her 

 hiding place. 



One evening, as I was sitting at my writing desk, 

 and the animal was playing about in the open part 

 of its cage, a large blue^fly happened to buzz 

 against the wires. The little creature, although at 

 twice or thrice the distance of her own length from 

 it, sprang along the wires with the greatest agility, 

 and would certainly have seized it, had the space 

 betwixt the wires been sufficiently wide to have 

 admitted her teeth or paws to reach it. I was sur- 

 prised at this occurrence, as I had been led to be- 

 lieve 



