126 The White-Footed Mouse 



my observation, and placed in a hollow of a tree or 

 log. Woodsmen often find these stores of nuts. 

 Several years ago I found a storehouse of some white- 

 footed mice in a cavity of a maple tree. There were 

 nearly three and a half quarts of as beautifully shucked 

 beechnuts as one would wish to see. Only last year 

 I found in a stump another storehouse, containing a 

 quart of beechnuts and an equal amount of buck- 

 wheat. 



The white-footed mouse, like some of the squirrels, 

 constructs an outside nest, in thick tangles of bushes, 

 from four to ten feet above the ground. The favorite 

 location seems to be about some gently inclined vine, 

 such as the wild grape, which affords a natural and 

 easy highway from the ground to the home of the wee 

 architect. The nests are slightly globular in shape, 

 and composed of dried leaves, grasses, moss, and 

 fibrous barks of various kinds, the material being 

 closely compacted and the general appearance very 

 pleasing. The entrance is usually on the lower side. 

 Sometimes the foundation is an old bird's nest, very 

 often that of the catbird. T once found a nest that 

 was fifteen inches in length and about eight inches in 

 diameter, this being the most irregular in shape as 

 well as the largest one that I ever saw. 



Occasionally several mice will occupy the same nest, 



