102 LLOYDS NATURAL HISTORY. 



L THE HARVEST-MOUSE. MUS MINUTUS. M 



Mils miftutus, Pallas, Reise, vol. i. Append, p. 454 (1778); 



Bell, British Quadrupeds, 2nd ed. p. 286 (1874). 

 Mus j/iessoriusy Shaw, Gen. Zool. vol. ii. p. 62 (1801). 



{Plate XXL) 



Characters. — Size very small ; tail and ears relatively short, 

 the latter being about one-third the length of the head ; 

 colour of upper-parts yellowish-red, that of under-parts white ; 

 the line of demarcation between the two being sharply defined. 

 Length of head and body about 2^ inches ; of tail nearly 

 the same. The general form is rather more slender than in 

 most members of the genus, and the head is rather narrow, 

 with the eyes somewhat less prominent than is usually the 

 case. 



Distribution. — Ranging over the greater part of Europe with 

 the exception of the extreme north, the Harvest-Mouse is an 

 inhabitant of most districts in England, although much more 

 abundant in some than in others. In the Lake district, it appears 

 to have been only observed on two occasions, which leads the 

 Rev. H. A. Macpherson to suggest that in both cases it had been 

 accidentally introduced, and that it is not truly indigenous. 

 In Leicester and Rutland, it is stated by Mr. Montagu Browne 

 to be rare ; and the writer has never observed it in the dis- 

 trict of Hertfordshire where he resides. On the other hand, 

 in Cambridgeshire, Devonshire, Gloucestershire, Hampshire 

 (where it was first recorded by Gilbert White as a member of 

 the British fauna), Warwickshire, and Wiltshire, it seems to 

 be fairly abundant. In Scotland it has been recorded by 

 Macgillivray from Aberdeenshire, Fifeshire, and near Edin- 

 burgh, but is unknown in the more northern counties. Al- 

 though not definitely recorded by Thompson from Ireland, 

 it has been subsequently stated to exist there, but the writer 



