THE DORMOUSE 63 



four feet. The entrance was closed, but a gentle 

 tap on the main stem of the bush brought the 

 owner out, a rather dull-coloured dormouse, which 

 it was obvious was a female that would soon 

 have a family. She only ran a few inches up 

 one of the honeysuckle stems, where she stayed, 

 clasping the branch so that it was between her 

 and the spectator. She seemed to think she was 

 invisible ; indeed, if I had not seen her take up 

 her position, I should never have known she 

 was there, for all one could see was a bit of yellow- 

 ish fur and a dark eye peeping round the stem. 

 Not wishing to upset or disturb the little lady, I 

 went on, returning two days later to see how her 

 affairs were progressing. This was on August 5th. 

 She ran out immediately when the bush was 

 slightly shaken, but seemed in no hurry to go 

 far from the nest. It was obvious she now had 

 a family to consider, and would not leave them, 

 so I went away and left her in peace. 



After that I visited her daily, generally giving 

 the bush a slight shake, whereupon she would 

 push her head through the side of the nest and 

 look out to see what the disturbance was about, 

 but after the first time showed little alarm, and 

 did not run away. On August 28th, i.e. about 

 four weeks after the birth of the family, a 

 companion went with me to view the nest, and 

 when asked to touch the bush, unfortunately gave 

 it too vigorous a shake. It seemed as if a shower 

 of dormice shot out of the nest ! It was difficult 

 to see exactly what happened, but it appeared 



