WILD LIFE IN A SOUTHERN COUNTY. 189 



hawthorn bushes, bent down when young by the 

 hedge-cutter, are nearly horizontal and free for some 

 part of their length of twigs. The, mice run along 

 these natural bridges from one part of the hedge to 

 the other. 



Last spring I watched a mouse very busily engaged 

 sitting on such a branch, about a foot above the bank, 

 nibbling the tender top leaves of the " elite " plant. 

 The " elite " grows with great rapidity, and climbs 

 up into the hedge ; this plant had already pushed 

 up ten or twelve inches, so that the mouse on the 

 branch was just about on a level with the upper and 

 tenderest leaves. These he drew towards him with 

 his fore feet, and complacently nibbled. When he 

 had picked out what suited his fancy he ran along 

 the branch, and in an instant was lost to sight on the 

 bank among the grass. 



The nests of the " harvest trow " a still smaller 

 mouse, seldom seen except in summer are common 

 in the grass of the orchard (and in almost every 

 meadow) before it is mown. As the summer wanes 

 their dead bodies are frequently found in the foot- 

 paths ; for a kind of epizoic seems to seize them at 

 that time, and they die in numbers. It is curious 

 that an animal which carefully conceals itself in 

 health should at the approach of death seek an 

 open and exposed place like a footpath worn clear of 

 grass. 



In the ha-ha wall, at that part of the orchard where 

 the highway hedge comes up, is the square mouth of 



