THE HARVEST MOUSE 



85 



inches from which the Harvest Mouse 

 has not been recorded. 



r have no hesitation in saying that 

 although an occasional sporadic record 

 may occur, it is unlikely that he will ever 



THE HARVEST MOUSE FEEDING. 



permanently establish himself outside the 

 three-inch line, or that he will ever be 

 common north of Leicester. 



The breeding - nest of the Harvest 

 Mouse is normally spherical, though its 

 surroundings may considerably vary its 

 shape. Gilbert White, writing on the 4th 

 of November, 1767, likens it in size 

 to a cricket ball (one's thoughts fly 

 straight to Hambledon), but cricket 

 balls have shrunk, I think, since then. 



Taking the average of half-a- 

 dozen, they are built a foot 

 above the ground, and com- 

 posed entirely of the leaves of 

 the com with the stalks as 

 scaffolding. Occasionally a 

 complete spike is found inter- 

 woven in the walls, but this 

 is so rare that it may be con- 

 sidered accidental. Full advan- 

 tage is taken of the growing 

 leaves of the scaffolding. These 

 are left attached to their stalks, 

 and pulled upwards, down- 

 wards, and sideways into the 

 nest, so as to form a stiffening 

 palisade. At the base of the 

 nest there are often three or 

 four entire leaves. The body 



of the nest is composed of short lengths 

 split longitudinally by the Mouse's teeth, 

 but not entirely picked to pieces ; these 

 naturally contract into spirals and com- 

 plicate themselves. The end of any stalk 

 which hangs down conveniently is treated 

 in the same way. There were 250 sj)lit- 

 up but more or less coherent lengths in 

 one nest which I unravelled, and, allow- 

 ing for miscalculations, I should reckon 

 that at least a hundred complete leaves 

 had been utilised. There is no visible 

 opening, but the structure of the nest 

 ensures that the walls close naturally 

 behind the Mouse's entrances and e.xits. 



I have never found the " winter nest " 

 of the Harvest Mouse, though there is 

 some evidence that such a thing may 

 exist. There seems to be no record as 

 to how many or how few Mice have been 

 found wintering together, but it is ex- 

 tremely unlikely that anything like solitary 

 hibernation occurs with this species. In 

 this part of the country — ^West Kent — 

 the Harvest Mice winter in the stacks, 

 often scores of them together. They show 

 a decided preference for oat stacks, in 

 which they live on a somewhat higher 

 level than the House Mice. Field Mice and 

 Meadow Mice generally avoid stacks, A 

 number of ]\Iice in a stack means few or 

 no Rats, and a number of Rats means few 

 or no Mice. The most remarkable thresh- 

 ing r ever attended revealed successively 

 (i) a number of Harvest Mice, {2) a litter 

 of Weasels, (3) a number of House Mice. 



The tumult of threshing may, of course, 



ANOTHER FEEDING ATTITUDE. 



