BRITISH MAMMALS 



these may be expected during the Summer. They may 

 be regarded as the dearest baby pets produced by any 

 four-footed British mammal, and although amenable to 

 captivity, we like best to associate the Squirrel with the 

 wild greenwood, where it can pass its little life as an 

 active, and, let us hope, happy creature, scampering 

 round tree-trunks, playing hide-and-seek with the 

 observer, who, being a lover of Nature's children, never 

 tires of watching this woodland rover both at work and 

 play. It belongs to the genus Sciurus. 



Dormouse. — Green grassy lanes, so characteristic 

 of Charles Lamb's " hearty, homely, loving Hertford- 

 shire," and similar tracts of country elsewhere, are, we 

 find, the most likely situations in which to search for 

 this delightful little beast (Coloured Frontispiece). 

 There, in the tangle of a bramble-bush, or a stalwart 

 hawthorn, it suspends its oval nest, and even in the depth 

 of Winter it may be discovered tucked up inside its snug 

 abode, fast asleep. When thus found, naught disturbs the 

 little slumberer as it is rolled up in a tight ball, feet to 

 feet, head to hind quarters, and the long, bushy tail wound 

 right round as a means of keeping its dapper body from 

 becoming unfastened ! When held in the hot hand, or 

 if introduced to a warm room, the sleeper may awake, 

 and precaution should be taken for fear this happens. 



In several ways the Dormouse reminds us of its near 



relative, the Squirrel, though it is mostly nocturnal in its 



habits, and regularly hibernates through the Winter. 



It is attired in a warm coat of reddish, with white on the 

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