117 



CHAPTER X. 



PENSILE MAMMALIA. 



The Harvest Mouse — Its appearance — Reason for its name — Mouse nests 

 — Home of the Harvest Mouse — A curious problem — Food of the Harvest 

 Mouse, and its agihty — The Squirrel — Its summer and winter 'cage'— 

 Boldness of the Squirrel — Materials for the nest, and their arrangement. 



There are not many mammalia which make pensile nests. 

 and we are, therefore, the more pleased to find that one of 

 the most interesting inhabits this country. This is the well- 

 known Harvest Mouse {Micromys miftutus), the smallest 

 example of the mammalia in England, and nearly in the 

 world. 



This elegant little creature is so tiny that, when fuU-growa, 

 it weighs scarcely more than the sixth of an ounce, whereas 

 the ordinary mouse weighs almost an entire ounce. Its olour 

 is a very warm brown above, almost amounting to chestnut, 

 and below it is pure white, the line of demarcation being 

 strongly defined. The colour is slightly variable in different 

 lights, because each hair is red at the tip and brown at the 

 base, and every movement of the animal naturally causes the 

 two tints to be alternately visible and concealed. 



It is called the Harvest Mouse, because it is usually found 

 at harvest time, and in some parts of the country it is captured 

 by hundreds, in barns and ricks. To the ricks it could never 

 gain admission, provided they are built on proper staddles, 

 were it not that it gets into the sheaves as they stand in tlie 

 field, and is carried within them by the labourers. Other 

 mice, however, are sometimes called by this name, although 

 they have no fair title to it ; but the genuine Harvest Mouse 

 can always be distinguished by its very small size, and the 



