DORMOUSE. 83 



of Squirrel, and he was helped to this conclusion by the general 

 resemblance in colouring, the form of the head, the prominent 

 black eyes, large ears, and thickly furred long tail ; as well as 

 by its arboreal habitat and its habit of sitting up on its haunches 

 and holding a nut or other food in its fore paws. But the 

 classifying naturalist has to look below the surface to discover 

 a sound basis for his work. Superficial resemblances are often 

 due to similarity of habit and habitat ; and in this case the 

 internal structure of the Dormouse shows that it has closer 



Skeleton and Molars of Dormouse. 



affinity with the Mice than with the Squirrels, though really 

 distinct from both. 



The total length of the Dormouse is about five and a half 

 inches, but nearly half of this is contributed by the tail. The 

 fore limbs, which are much shorter than the hind limbs, are 

 furnished with four separate fingers and a rudimentary thumb ; 

 whilst the hind feet have five toes, though the first of these is 

 short and clawless. All the claws are short ; and on each foot 

 there are six large pads. The fur of the upper parts is light 

 tawny coloured, and of the underside yellowish white, but the 

 throat and adjoining part of the chest is a purer white. 



In the copse and thick hedgerow where the Dormouse is 

 mostly to be found, he must be sought after the brightness of 





