388 STRANGE DWELLINGS. 



stump. This excited notice and surprise, as there was nothing 

 near her against which she was likely to spoil her tail. 



' When the chickens were hatched, and they and their mother 

 were taken to a fresh nest, and the old one removed, it was 

 found that a Mouse had constructed a beautiful nest under the 

 basket. The body of the nest was made of tow scraped from 

 the sack, and chopped or gnawed hay from the hen's nest, 

 while the lining was made of the feathers of her tail, which had 

 evidently been removed, a small bit at a time, as wanted, until 

 all the feathers were reduced to stumps, showing marks of the 

 Mouse's teeth. We should have liked to have heard the hen's 

 remarks on the transaction, when the Mouse was nibbling her 

 tail.' 



In this case the Mouse improved on the conduct of her re- 

 lative that built in the garden ; for, by placing her nest in such 

 a position, she not only secured the very best materials for her 

 home, but enjoyed the advantage of the regular and high tem- 

 perature which proceeded from the body of the sitting hen, and 

 which was admirably adapted for the well-being of her young 

 family. 



Our last example of a remarkable Mouse-nest is that which is 

 figured in the accompanying illustration, and which was drawn 

 from the actual object. 



A number of empty bottles had been stowed away upon a 

 shelf, and among them was found one which was tenanted by 

 a Mouse. The little creature had considered that the bottle 

 would afford a suitable home for her young, and had therefore 

 conveyed into it a quantity of bedding, which she made into 

 a nest. The bottle was filled with the nest, and the eccentric 

 architect had taken the precaution to leave a round hole cor- 

 responding to the neck of the bottle. In this remarkable domi- 

 cile the young were placed ; and it is a fact worthy of notice, 

 that no attempt had been made to shut out the light. Nothing 

 would have been easier than to have formed the cavity at the 

 underside, so that the soft materials of the nest would exclude 

 the light; but the Mouse had simply formed a comfortable 

 hoUow for her young, and therein she had placed her offspring. 



