INVERERNE. 57 



The proceedings of the field mouse (mus. sylvaticus) are now 

 very interesting. These pretty little animals are at this season 

 very busy in digging out and arranging their holes in the stubble 

 fields. They have already laid up their stores of grain, acorns, 

 nuts, and even cherry stones. Sometimes four or five mice are 

 found in one hole ; almost invariably at this season, if any mice 

 are in a hole, the aperture is completely closed, which they can 

 only do from within, thus shutting themselves up from the cold 

 winds. The quantity of earth that they excavate with their 

 tiny paws is" quite astonishing, making a goodly heap in a single 

 night. My gardener encourages the boys to destroy these mice, 

 and they turn them out of their holes by pouring a pailful of 

 water into the hole, when the poor little animals are obliged to 

 leave their tenement. 



