54 THE BRITISH MAMMALS : THEIR GENERA AND SPECIES. 



Muscardlnus. Plate x. RODENTIA. 



36. avellanarius, DORMOUSE. Colour of upper parts tawny russet ; tail 

 hairy and of the same diameter throughout. 



The Dormouse is of a pale tawny brown above and yellowish 

 below, with a white patch on the throat extending between the legs. 

 The head is rather large, the ears are about a third of its length ; 

 the eyes are black, bright, and prominent ; the nose is pointed. 

 The arms are shorter than the legs, and the thumb is rudimentary ; 

 all the paws are padded and are used like hands, but the claws are 

 neither so long nor so strong as those of the squirrel. There are an 

 incisor, a premolar, and three molars in each jaw, the side teeth 

 having the crowns flat and the enamel transversely folded. The Dor- 

 mouse is about six inches over all, of which the tail is rather less than 

 half. He sleeps for five or six months, and fattens himself for the 

 experience, so that by the end of September he is very plump in the 

 body ; the fat is used up during the hibernation, and when he wakes 

 for good in the spring he is particularly gaunt and hungry-looking. 



DORMOUSE. 

 (Muscardinus avellanarius.) 



In habit he is nocturnal, and seeks his food among thickets and hedge- 

 rows, on the bushes and smaller trees. He feeds on nuts and fruits, 

 and in manner is a small squirrel, but instead of picking the nuts to 

 begin with, will often bore a hole into them and extract the kernel 

 in fragments as they hang on the bough. He will also eat grain and 

 other seeds, and caterpillars and other insects do not come amiss 

 to him when they are within easy reach. For winter quarters he 

 builds a globular nest which he stores with provisions, and on these 

 he feeds when he occasionally awakens, but the quantity is small, 

 and barely enough to tide him through the period when other food is 

 unprocurable The young, three]or four in number, are born blind and 

 naked, and wear a grey coat in their infancy which reddens as they 

 grow up. Their home is a neatly-made globular nest built a yard or 

 so above the ground. The Dormouse is not found in Ireland or in 

 he North of Scotland, nor does it range out of Europe. 



