THE SHORT-TAILED MEADOW MOUSE 



1/3 



the tall, loosely panicled llower stem 

 will readily serve lor identification. The 

 flowers themselves, borne throughout the 

 summer, are somewhat small, of a pale 

 rose colour ; the perianth has three small 



outer portions and thre larger inner ones, 

 resembling petals ; the six stamens each 

 ha\-e two honey glands, one on each side 

 of the base. 



H. PuKEFOY Fitzgerald. 



HOW TO KNOW THE WILD ANIMALS 



By DOUGLAS ENGLISH, B.A., F.R.P.S. 



Author of '"Wee Tim'rous Beasties," etc 



THE SHORT-TAILED MEADOW MOUSE.— I 



SHORT-TAILED FIELD MOUSE. FIELD VOLE. 

 With Photographs by the Author 



COMMON VOLE. 



I HAVE come across a delightful Suffolk 

 name for this beastie, one of those im- 

 petuous mother-tongue names which 

 it seems almost sacrilege to print. Suffolk 

 is rich in such. " Ranny-nose," the 

 Shrew Mouse, for instance (they speak, too, 

 of a " ranny-nosed " plough), " Fuzz- 

 tail," the Stoat, " Mouse-hunt," the 

 Weasel, " Pick-cheese," the Tit Mouse, 

 " Tittereen," the Gold-crest, " Hodma- 

 dod," the Snail — fair samples all of a speech 

 which is dying of education, but which 

 yet has sufficient strength to speak simply 

 of " Mouse Bats " and " Rat Bats," and 

 to call the Meadow 

 Mouse a " Mogger." 



" Mogger " is 

 more subtle than 

 the others ; yet no 

 one who knows the 

 animal can miss its 

 meaning, while for 

 those who do not 

 know the animal 

 the sound of it 

 s h c) u 1 f 1 almost 

 suffice. 



In .the Short- 

 tailed Meadow 

 Mouse — markedly 

 in the alhed form 

 which is peculiar 

 to the Orkney 

 Islands — we find 



mogger; 



the pure Meadow Mouse type. We leave 

 behind the bold, round, staring eyes, 

 the out shot ears, the fined extremities, 

 which ha\'e characterised the species 

 already dealt with ; and find, in place of 

 these, their opposites, small, beady ej-es, 

 ears hidden in the fur, stub tails, and 

 blunted noses. The Meadow Mouse is the 

 true Mouse compressed : he is Dutch- 

 built. Nor has Nature contented herself 

 with compr ssing his form : she has com- 

 pressed his character. The Meadow 

 Mouse has the lymphatic temperament ; 

 he is incurious ; he lacks ambition ; he 

 potters round his 

 birthplace. He 

 may creep the 

 length of the hedge- 

 row timidly, but he 

 will seldom work 

 through it, nor can 

 he scale it. His 

 world is bounded 

 by familiar grass 

 stems, and with 

 these he rests con- 

 tent until there 

 comes a time when, 

 all things com- 

 bining to favour his 

 i n c r e a s e — m i 1 d 

 winters, erxess of 

 food, excess o f 

 cover, and a tem- 



