arious kinds. 



NORTHERN OCEAN 359 



ingly fat, and good eating. They are easily tamed, and soon 

 grow fond ; by degrees they will bear handling as well as a 

 cat ; are exceeding cleanly, very playful, and by no means so 

 restless and impatient of confinement as the Common Squirrel. 



Mice are in great plenty and variety in all parts of Mice of 

 Hudson's Bay ; the marshes being inhabited by one species, 

 and the dry ridges by another. The Shrew Mouse ^ is 

 frequently found in Beaver houses during Winter, where they 

 not only find a warm habitation, but also pick up a comfort- 

 able livelihood from the scraps left by the Beaver. Most of 

 the other species build or make nests of dry grass, [387] of 

 such a size and thickness, that when covered with snow, they 

 must be sufficiently warm. They all feed on grass in general, 

 but will also eat animal food when they can get it. The 

 Hair-tailed Mouse " is the largest in the Northern parts of the 

 Bay, being little inferior in size to a common rat. They 

 always burrow under stones, on dry ridges ; are very inoffen- 

 sive, and so easily tamed, that if taken when full-grown, some 

 of them will in a day or two be perfectly reconciled, and are 

 so fond of being handled, that they will creep about your 

 neck, or into your bosom. In Summer they are grey, and in 

 Winter change to white, but are by no means so beautiful as 

 a white ermine. At that season they are infested with multi- 

 tudes of small lice, not a sixth part so large as the mites in a 

 cheese ; in fact, they are so small, that at first sight they only 

 appear like reddish-brown dust, but on closer examination are 

 all perceived in motion. In one large and beautiful animal of 



[* The shrew most often found in the beaver houses is the marsh shrew, 

 Neosorex palustris (Rich.), whose aquatic habits admirably fit it for such situa- 

 tions. Two or three smaller shrews, less aquatic in habits, also inhabit the 

 Hudson Bay region.] 



[' Dicrostonyx richardsoni Merriam. This lemming, which is closely related 

 to D. hudsonius of Labrador, was described from specimens taken at Fort 

 Churchill, where it is abundant. Farther to the north it is represented by 

 closely related forms whose ranges are among the most northerly of all land 

 animals. Hearne's excellent account of this species has been confirmed in 

 almost every particular by later observers.] 



