THE HARVEST MOUSE. 



559 



goldfinch. In the first, the creature entirely failed, but was tolerably successful in its 

 imitation of the mild notes of the goldfinch. The same animal would begin to sing if 

 a melody were played in the minor key, but would give no response to the major. The 

 fondness of Mice for music is already well known, and may afford some clue to their 

 sensitiveness of ear. I believe, by the way, that the untaught cries of all the lower 

 animals, whether they be quadrupeds or birds, are in the minor key. 



SMALLEST, and perhaps the prettiest, of the British mammalias, the elegant little 

 HARVEST MOUSE next claims our attention. The total length of this tiny creature is 

 not quite five inches, its tail being nearly two inches, and a half in length. The color 

 of its fur is a delicate reddish-brown, the 

 base of each hair taking the darker tint, and 

 the point warming into red, while the under 

 parts of the abdomen are white. The line 

 of demarcation between the brown and white 

 is well defined. 



The description which is given of the 

 Harvest Mouse and its wonderful nest, by 

 the Rev. Gilbert White, is so well known 

 that it need only be casually mentioned. I 

 have fortunately had opportunities of verify- 

 ing his observations by means of a nest 

 which was found in a field in Wiltshire bv 



^ 



some mowers. 



It was built upon a scaffolding of four of the 

 rank grass-stems that are generally found on 

 the sides of ditches, and was situated at some 

 ten or eleven inches from the ground. In 

 it was globular, rather larger than a cricket- 

 ball, and was quite empty, having prob- 

 ably been hardly completed when the remorse- 

 less scythe struck down the scaffolding and 

 wasted all the elaborate labor of the poor 

 little architect. The material of which it 

 was composed was thin dry grass of nearly 

 uniform substance, and its texture was re- 

 markably loose, so that any object contained 

 in it could be seen through the interstices as 

 easily as if it had been placed in a lady's 

 open-worked knitting basket. There was no 

 vestige of aperture in any part of it, so that 

 the method by which it was constructed 

 seems quite enigmatical. 



I am inclined to suppose that the little 

 builder remained in its centre while engaged 

 in its construction, and after weaving it 

 around her, pushed her way out through the loosely woven wall, and re-arranged the 

 gap from the outside. It may be that the nest is the joint work of both sexes, the one 

 remaining inside and plaiting the grass, while her mate brings fresh material, and con- 

 solidates the work from the exterior. 



Perhaps the young Mice, when snugly packed into their airy cradle, may be fed by 

 the mother from the exterior, by making a temporary opening opposite each little one, 

 and replacing the material when she proceeds to the next in succession. This is Mr. 

 White's suggestion, and seems to be a very probable one. He also wonders how the 

 little nest, which was entirely filled by the bodies of the eight young Harvest Mice that 

 lay cradled in its embrace, could expand so as to accommodate itself to their increas- 

 ing dimensions. This problem may be answered by the fact that the loose structure 



HARVEST MOUSE. Mlcromys mlautus. 



