RODENT J A. 



LONG-TAILED FIELD MOUSE. 



293 



MURID^F,. 



'.:-^- 





LONG-TAILED FIELD MOUSE. 



WOOD MOUSE. 



Mus sylvaticns. (Linn.) 



Specific Character. — Eeddisli-browu above, whitish beneath, with a liglit 

 brownish spot on the breast ; ears more than half the length of the head ; tail 

 nearly as long as the head and body. 



Mus sylvaticus, Linn. Syst. Nat. I. p. 84, 17. Erxleb. Syst. p. 388, 



4. Desmar. Mammal, p. 301, sp. 477. Flem. 

 Brit. An. p. 19. .Iknyns, Brit. Vert. p. 30. 

 ,, domeslicus mecUus, Ray, Syn. p. 218. 



Li Mnlof, BuFFON, Hist. Nat. VII. p. 325, t. xli. 



Lowj-lailed Field Mouse, Penn. Brit. Zool. p. 120, No. 28. 



Wood Mouse, Shaw, Gen. Zool. II. p. .58, t. cxxxii. 



This common species, which is scattered over ahnost 

 the whole of the temperate regions of Europe, is in every 

 part considered as one of the most destructive of all the 

 minor pests of the corn-field, the nursery-ground, and 

 the kitchen-garden. Multiplying in hosts, and each one 

 laying up a winter store in its subterranean retreat, the 

 devastations committed by it are almost incalculablr. it 

 is, however, a gentle ami liiiiid liltlr creature; easily 



