8 DAN BEARD'S ANIMAL BOOK 



nest has been filled with the down from the seed 

 stalk of the cat-tail. Under this warm coverlid 

 little White-foot can sleep snug and warm in the 

 frostiest weather. Another nest that has been 

 lined and roofed with moss has a doorway at the 

 top and near the eaves, so to speak, furnishing an 

 entrance and exit for the occupant. 



Like their cousins, the flying squirrels, these lit- 

 tle mice can not stand wet and cold, and, after a 

 driving rain, they are not infrequently found dead 

 upon the ground. Consequently, when the damp 

 snow covers the top of their nest and the sun be- 

 gins to melt the snow the mice crawl out and make 

 their winter homes under the roots of trees and the 

 stone walls. 



It sometimes happens that some mouse is more 

 ambitious and more ingenious than the rest of his 

 kind. In the Borough of Queens I found a nest, 

 shown in the corner of the accompanying leaf 

 from my sketch book, which had been roofed over 

 with 



A THATCH OF RUSHES 



and a door made on one side for an entrance and 

 exit of the little squatter. This nest is in the 

 National Museum at Washington, where I sent it 

 some years ago, and, as far as I know, is unique. 

 Usually the little rodents are satisfied with 



COVERING THEMSELVES WITH A WARM HEAP OF 

 CAT-TAIL DOWN, 



moss or the finely shredded inner bark of the cedar 



