THE DOHJ10U1SE. 



103 



of the shrubs and small trees the Dormice climb with wonderful adroitness, often, indeed, hanging by 

 their hind feet from a twig in order to reach and operate on a fruit or a nut which is otherwise inacces- 

 sible, and running along the lower surface of a branch with the activity and certainty of a Monkey. 

 Detached articles of food are held up to the mouth by the fore paws, after the fashion of a Squirrel. 

 Towards the winter the Dormouse becomes exceedingly fat, and having collected a small store of food, 

 makes for itself a little globular nest, composed of small twigs, leaves, pine-needles, moss, and grass, 

 and within this, coiled up into a ball, passes into a torpid state. 



Nevertheless, the winter sleep is not wholly uninterrupted ; on mild days the Dormouse wakes up 

 for a time and takes a little of its stored-up food. The female produces usually about four young, in 

 the spring according to Professor Bell, in August according to Brehm ; but the former writer thinks 

 that in some cases two broods are produced in the year, as he has received from the same locality in 

 September a half-grown Dormouse and three very young ones, evidently not more than a fortnight 

 or three weeks old. 



Of the other common European species, the LOIR (Myoxus glis) is found only in southern 

 regions, its range extending from Spain to Southern Russia, and passing into the neighbouring parts 

 of Asia. It is considerably larger than the Dormouse, measuring rather more than six inches in 



.GARDEN DOKMOUSE. 



length, and has a bushy tail, in which the hairs are arranged in two rows, as in that of the Squirrel. 

 The habits of this species are like those of the Dormouse. Fruit constitutes a portion of its diet, and 

 it is said also to destroy and devour small birds and other animals. The Loir is a very voracious 

 feeder, and becomes exceedingly fat in the autumn. By the ancient Roman epicures it was regarded 

 as a dainty morsel, and they spared no pains to fatten it for the table. It sleeps during the day, and 

 hibernates in some hole in a tree or in the ground, and the nest is formed in the former situation. 

 The female usually produces about six young. 



The GARDEX DORMOUSE, or LEROT of the French (Myoxus nitela), is common all over the 

 southern and western parts of the Continent, extending northwards through Germany into 

 the Baltic provinces of Russia. It is a little smaller than the preceding species, which, however, it 

 resembles in its general habits ; but it dwells commonly in gardens, and feeds on fruits, often 

 doing much damage to the choicer varieties. It is a lighter and more active animal than the Loir, 

 and is said to be even more predaceous in its habits. The female produces from four to six young, 

 sometimes in a beautifully-made nest of her own, sometimes in the deserted or usm-ped nest of a Black- 

 bird or Thrush, or in that of a Squirrel. 



FAMILY VI. LOPHIOMYID^E. 



The importance of an animal in the zoological system by no means depends either upon its size 

 or on its abundance in the world ; its rank in the classification is decided solely by peculiarities of 



