MILL CREEK. 207 



^evertlieless, I am not prepared to say that these 

 mice do build bush-nests without at least the base of a 

 bird's-nest as a starting-point. Yet why they should 

 not does not readily appear. They build beautifully 

 constructed nests in hollow \o^s and under bits of boards 

 and old tin pans, carrying the materials therefor from 

 quite distant points ; so why not carry them up a few 

 feet into tangled growths, offering almost as sure a foot- 

 ing as the ground itself ? One difficulty that besets the 

 investigator is that these creatures do next to nothing 

 by daylight. Hours of patient waiting, during dark days 

 and throughout the gloaming, have availed me nothing. 

 As a day-time feature of our woods, I know of no sleepier 

 creatures than a family of white-footed mice. 



Judging from the number of nests mentioned — another 

 such series might give different results — these bush re- 

 treats are usually modified birds'-nests, but in some in- 

 stances the modification appears to be extended to j^rac- 

 tically the construction of a new nest. 



A feature of much interest that is worthy of detailed 

 mention concerns the occupants of these nests rather 

 than the structures themselves. Tliirty-six nests con- 

 tained each a female mouse with a litter of young, either 

 old enough to run alone or clinging to the teats of their 

 dam. In not one case did 1 see a male mouse ; while in 

 the other six nests each contained a sini^le adult male 

 mouse, and no other occupant. This appears to me the 

 more peculiar experience, as in several nests placed upon 

 the ground both parents were found in the same nest in 

 every instance. Still, it is not safe to draw any conclu- 

 sions without hundreds of nests arc carefully examined. 



