110 NATURAL HISTORY. 



confine itself to a vegetable diet, but under circumstances of privation will attack and devour smaller 

 and weaker animals, not even sparing its own species. It breeds more than once in the year, and 

 produces from seven to ten young in each litter. It is easily tamed, and soon becomes familiar. 



The remaining British species, the HARVEST MOUSE (Mus minutus), is the smallest of the British 

 quadrupeds, with the exception of the Lesser Shrew (Sorex pygmceus). The Harvest Mouse is to 

 be found in most parts of England. It also occurs in Scotland as far north as Aberdeenshire ; and in 

 Ireland, but very rarely. On the Continent its range extends over nearly the whole of Europe, 

 from Russia in the north to Italy in the south. It is well known in Siberia, and occurs abundantly 

 in the steppes near the Caucasus. 



The total length of this pretty little Mouse is about five inches, of which nearly one-half is made 

 up of the tail. In it the eyes are less prominent than in the common Field Mouse, and the ears 

 considerably shorter in proportion. Its colour on the upper surface is bright reddish- brown, and below 

 pure white, the two colours being sharply separated. During the summer, the Harvest Mouse 

 associates with the other Field Mice in corn-fields, and with them is very frequently carried in 

 the sheaves of corn to rick-yards and barns, where it then takes up its abode for the autumn 

 and winter, and, like other Mice, multiplies very rapidly, and no doubt does a good deal of mischief. 

 The less fortunate individuals who are left behind in the fields retreat to little burrows for protection 

 from the inclemency of the winter, which they pass in a state of at least partial torpidity ; and to 

 provide against exigencies they lay up in their dwellings a small store of food, to which they can have 

 recourse when a fine day recalls them for a time to activity. Those which have been introduced into 

 ricks and barns are, of course, liberally provided for, and they show their gratitude by remaining 

 awake all the winter, as if on purpose to consume their abundant provender. In the open field their 

 food consists of corn and the seeds of grasses and other plants, but also to a considerable extent of 

 small insects. 



In its movements the Harvest Mouse is wonderfully agile. On the ground it runs very rapidly; 

 and it climbs upon shrubs and plants as cleverly as a Monkey, running out upon the thinnest twigs 

 with the greatest confidence, and climbing up stalks of grasses so thin that they bend neai-ly to the 

 ground with its weight. In these operations the long slender tail comes into use, as its extremity is 

 prehensile, and can be twisted neatly round the small stalks and branches over which the little climber 

 is making its way. From its lively habits, and the elegance of its form, the Harvest Mouse is a very 

 interesting pet. 



The Harvest Mouse breeds several times during the year, producing from five to eight or nine 

 young at a birth, and provides for them one of the prettiest cradles formed by any Mammal. It is 

 placed, according to the locality, upon several grass-leaves split and interwoven with the other 

 materials, or suspended at a height of from eighteen inches to three feet above the ground, upon 

 the twigs of some shrub or between several stalks of corn or strong grasses. It is egg-shaped, 

 or nearly round, about the size of the egg of a Goose, and is composed externally of slit leaves of 

 the reeds or grasses among which it is formed, each leaf being carefully divided longitudinally by 

 the sharp teeth of the little architect into six or eight thread-like portions, which are then all woven 

 together, so as to produce a firm structure. The interior is lined, or rather stuffed, with all sorts of 

 soft vegetable substances, so that it has been a question with many observers how the mother could 

 get at all the members of her family to suckle them, and how the nest could contain them all as they 

 began to increase in bulk. The young usually remain in the nest until they can see ; but as soon as 

 they are able to provide for themselves, the mother takes them out, gives them some practical instruc- 

 tions iii the art of living, and then leaves them to their own devices. According to Brehm, as these 

 Mice increase in age they improve in the art of nest-building. 



Besides these few species, a multitude of Rats and Mice, belonging to the same genus, occur as 

 natives of nearly all parts of the world, but in their habits they agree in general with the British 

 species. India harbours a considerable number, among which we may mention the BANDICOOT RAT 

 (Mus bandicota), a large species, which inhabits the Indian and Malayan peninsulas, and is very 

 destructive in plantations ; and the TREE RAT ( J/vs arboreus), a native of Bengal, seven or eight 

 inches in length, which lives partly on grain, of which it lays up stores in its nests, and partly on 

 young cocoa-nuts, which constitute its favourite food, and in search of which it climbs the trees. This 



