CLASS I. MAMMALIA: ORDER 7. RODEXTIA. 



423 



THE DORMOUSE. 



usually built in the shrubs of a thicket or wood. It climbs trees, and often makes its nest in the 

 fork of a tree or shrub. 



It takes its food holding it in its hands, and sitting on its haunches like a squirrel, and often 

 suspends itself by its hind-feet, in which position it feeds as easily and comfortably as in the more 

 ordinary attitude. Toward the winter it becomes exceedingly fat, and having laid up a store of 

 food, retires to its little nest, and coiling itself up into a ball, with the tail over the head and back, 

 becomes completely torpid. A mild day occasionally calls it into transient life; it then takes a 

 fresh supply of food and relapses into its former slumber ; and finally awakening in the spring, at 

 which time it has lost much of its fat, it enters upon its usual habits, and the enjoyment of the 

 conjugal and parental affections. The young, which are generally about four in number, are born 

 blind ; but in a few days the eyes are opened, and in a short time they are enabled to seek their 

 food independently of the parent's care. There is reason to b?lieve that, in some cases at least, 

 the dormouse has a second brood early in the autumn. It is nocturnal in its habits. 



We are told that a dormouse having been taken in its nest in the middle of December, the 

 heat of its captor's hand and the warmth of the room completely 'revived it, and it nimbly scaled 

 the furniture, finding no difficulty in ascending and descending the polished backs of the chairs, 

 and leaj.ing from chair to chair with great agility. On being set at liberty it sprang at least tv i 

 yards to a table. It did not seem alarmed at being taken into the hand. In the evening it was 

 placed with its nest in a box, and the next morning had relapsed into torpidity. Another account 

 informs us that a dormouse, which had been sent a distance of one hundred and forty miles, was 

 apparently but little disturbed by its ride. From that time till the first of April, it slept in 

 its snug dormitory, a deal-box lined with wool, when it awoke, and readily ate of apples and nuts. 

 It was easily alarmed, being more timid than tame, but showed no signs of anger on being taken 

 in the hand. As it slept the greater part of the day, its habits could not then be studied; but 

 toward evening it woke up, and was very lively and frolicsome, running, on being let out of its 

 cage, up the bell-rope, where it would sit for hours in the folds of the knot, timidly watching the 

 movements of the persons around. It is found all over Europe, and is conwnon in England, where 

 the other species are not found. 



Gervais notices as a distinct species of Dormouse the Loir Glis, M. Glis, which he describes 

 as being five inches long, with a tail four inches, and found in Greece, Italy, Sp.-dn, France, and 



