THE SQUIRREL, 119 



half round, and so permits great freedom of movement The 

 Harvest Mouse is even better constructed for climbing than the 

 ordinary mouse, inasmuch as its long and flexible toes can grasp 

 the grass-stem as firmly as a monkey's paw holds a bough, and 

 the long, slender tail is also partially prehensile, aiding the 

 animal greatly in sustaining itself, though it is not gifted with 

 the sensitive mobility of the same organ in the spider monkey, 

 or kinkajou. 



As the food of the Harvest Mouse consists greatly of insects, 

 flies being especial favourites, it is evident that great agility is 

 needed. Its leap is remarkably swift, and its aim is as accu- 

 rate as that of the swallow. Even in captivity, it has been 

 known to take flies from the hand of its owner, and to leap 

 along the wires of its cage as smartly as if it were trying to 

 capture an insect that could escape. 



The Harvest Mouse is tolerably prolific, and in the airy cradle 

 may sometimes be seen as many as eight young mice, all packed 

 together like herrings in a barrel. 



There is another well-known British mammal which, at all 

 events at one season of the year, may be classed among those 

 creatures who build pensile nests. This is the common Squirrel, 

 so plentiful in well-wooded districts, and so scarce where trees 

 are few. 



The Squirrel is an admirable nest-builder, though it cannot 

 lay claim to the exquisite neatness which distinguishes the 

 harvest mouse. As is well known, the Squirrel constructs two 

 kinds of nests, or ' cages,' as they are popularly called, one being 

 its winter home, wherein it can remain in a state of hibernation, 

 and the other its summer residence. These two nests are as 

 different as a town mansion and a shooting-box, the former 

 being strong, thick-walled, sheltered, and warm, and the other 

 light and airy. The winter cage is almost invariably placed in 

 the fork of some tree, generally where two branches start from 

 the trunk. It is well concealed by the boughs on which it rests, 

 and which serve also as a shelter from the wind. The summer 

 cage, on the contrary is comparatively frail, and is placed nearly 



