584 STRANGE DWELLINGS. 



The summer nest is of entirely a different construction, being 

 placed above ground, though tolerably well concealed. The fol- 

 lowing account of it, by Mr. J. J. Briggs, appeared originally in 

 the Field newspaper. * No wonder that in districts where they 

 are difficult to keep down they increase with rapidity, for, like 

 the common Mouse, they are prolific breeders. I have found 

 nests of this Mouse in almost every week from the end of May 

 to the middle of August, and each containing from one to ten 

 young, usually from five to seven. The young look poor help- 

 less creatures, being both blind and naked. They leave the nest 

 in about a month, but remain with their parents for some time 

 afterwards. 



' The nest is placed on the ground in a pasture or meadow ; 

 a field of mowing grass is preferred, but I have found it among 

 com, where the long herbage affords the coveted quiet and con- 

 cealment ; but when the crop is cut, the nest is laid bare, and 

 the young frequently fall a prey to hawks and other depredators. 

 The nest is built in a little hollow on the surface of the earth, 

 just concealed at the bottom of the stems of grass. If you pull 

 it out it looks like a lump of herds or flax, being composed of 

 numerous small pieces of grass nibbled to a fine texture with 

 care by the parent animals. 



' I have taken up dozens of nests to examine, but in no single 

 instance could I ever find an entrance to the interior. How the 

 parents gain admission to it seems extraordinary. This remark 

 applies to the nest of the White-bellied Field Mouse, and White, 

 of Selborne, notices the same fact with reference to the harvest- 

 mouse. How the young are suckled seems marvellous, unless 

 the conjecture be correct that the female opens a fresh aperture 

 in the nest each time she visits her young, and closes it again 

 when she departs. 



* The parents show considerable affection for their young. If 

 a nest be exposed by the mower they do not desert it, but on 

 the contrary endeavour to conceal it from observation as well 

 as they can, by drawdng round it the neighbouring grasses and 

 plants.' 



The same writer remarks that he has several times caught the 



