THE DORMOUSE. 531 



CHAPTER XXVII. 



BRANCH-BUILDING MAMMALIA. 



The Dormouse in Confinement and at Liberty. — Nest of the Dormouse. — Its Posi- 

 tion, Materials, and Dimensions. — Entrance to the Nest. — The winter Treasury. 

 — The Loire and the Lerot. — Man as a Branch-builder. — Moselekatze. — His 

 Conquests. — Effects upon the People. — Branch-houses. — Their Approaches. 



We now come to another division of the subject, namely, the 

 nests that are built in branches, and, adhering to the system which 

 has been followed through the progress of the work, we shall take 

 first the branch-building mammalia. 



There are but few mammals which can be reckoned in this di- 

 vision, but our little island produces two of them, namely, the 

 Squirrel and the Dormouse {Muscardinus avellanarius). The for- 

 mer of these animals has been already described at page 217. 



The pretty little brown -coated, white -bellied Dormouse is fa- 

 miliar to all who have been fond of keeping pets. There is no 

 difficulty in preserving the animal in health, and, therefore, it is 

 a favorite among those who like to keep animals and do not like 

 the trouble of looking after them. It is, however, rather an un- 

 interesting animal when kept in a cage, as it sleeps during the 

 greater part of the day, and the sight of a round ball of brown 

 fur is not particularly amusing. 



When kept in confinement, it is obliged to make for itself a 

 very inartificial nest, because it is deprived of proper materials 

 and a suitable locality. It does its best with the soft hay and cot- 

 ton wool which are usually provided for it, but it can not do much 

 with such materials. But when in a. state of liberty, and able to 

 work in its own manner, it is an admirable nest-maker. As it 

 passes the day in sleep, it must needs have some retired domicile 

 in which it can be hidden from the many enemies which might 

 attack a sleeping animal. 



One of these nests is depicted in the illustration, and the speci- 

 men from which it is drawn forms a part of my collection. It 

 was situated in a hedge about four feet from the ground, and, as 

 may be seen by reference to the illustration, is placed in the fork- 

 ing of a hazel branch, the smaller twigs of which form a kind of 



