THE NATURE BOOK 



seem to 



have found 



the world 



too small 



for the m. 



The largest 



\MiaIes are 



larger than 



any extinct 



animal 



known; but 



they, of 



course, 



have full 



space to 



turn in. and 



it would 



seem that 



for a land 



type to be 



p ersistent 



it must be 



modest in 



its claim 



for space. 



In their a- 



dapt ability 



to tree, or 



ground, or river as a habitat; to fruit, 



or fur, or feather as a food ; and in 



their modest dimensions, we have the 



secret of the permanence of Mice. 



There are four good species of Mice 

 on the mainland of Great Britain 

 which may fairly be reckoned " Mice of 

 the field " — the Long-tailed Field Mouse, 

 the Harvest Mouse, the Short - tailed 

 Meadow Mouse, and the Red - backed 

 Meadow Mouse. Only one of these — 

 the Long-tailed Field Mouse — is found 

 in Ireland. The Orkney Islands possess 

 a Meadow IMouse of their own, and 

 several other islands round our coasts 

 present, as might be expected, more or 

 less " good " variations from the main- 

 land type. 



I propose to include the Dormouse 

 under the same heading, as, although his 

 position is not clearly defined, he is 

 distinctly mouse-shaped, and he is con- 

 sidered nowadays to have more of Mouse 

 than Squirrel in him. 



These five Mice are easily dist'r"^Liishable 

 in the adult state. For a novice confronted 

 with a stran'^'c Mouse, the simplest 

 method of identification is to consider (i) 



AN OLD DORMOUSE. 



Long-tailed Field Mouse . . i 



Harvest Mouse . . . . i 



Dormouse . . . . i 



Red-backed Meadow Mouse i 



Short-tailed Meadow IMouse i 



the tail, (2) 

 the head, (3) 

 the colour. 

 In the 

 case of the 

 tail, it is 

 the length 

 compared 

 with that 

 of the head 

 and body 

 together 

 that is 

 most im- 

 p o r t a n t. 

 Taking the 

 length of 

 the head 

 and body 

 as unity, 

 the tails 

 of the five 

 species 

 work out 

 on an aver- 

 age as fol- 

 lows : — 



Head and liodv. Tail. 



■95 



■4 



There are distinct differences, moreover, 

 in the structure. 



That of the Long-tailed Field Mouse 

 tapers gradually to the tip. The root-end 

 and the greater part of its length is scantily 

 haired, so that the " rings " are plainly 

 visible. Towards the tip the hair grows 

 somewhat thicker. 



That of the Dormouse is stout and 

 cylindrical and heavily haired throughout 

 — bushy, in fact. The hair gro\\'s on it 

 in a series of whorls, and its under surface 

 presents, in a good light, a distinctly 

 banded appearance. 



That of the Harvest Mouse is haired 

 throughout, and rather square in section. 

 The under surface is distinctly flattened. 

 The last quarter inch, the chief prehensile 

 ]:)ortion, is more fleshy and more flexible 

 than the remainder. 



That of the Red-backed Meadow Mouse 

 is haired throughout, tapers but little, and 



