NATURAL HISTORY. 107 



is raised about a foot and a half from the ground, and sup- ' 

 ported on two or three straws. It is made of grass, about the 

 size of a cricket-ball, and very compact. 



The FIELD MOUSE is as great a pest in the open air as the 

 Common Mouse within a house. It not only devours the 

 corn, but strips the bark off. young trees, doing great mischief. 

 The kestrel or windhover hawk lives almost exclusively on the 

 Field Mouse, and ought always to be encouraged. 



Several genera are omitted. 



Sub-family b. Arvicolina. 



Frumentarius (Lat. belonging to harvest), the Hamster. 



The HAMSTER RAT is a native of parts of Germany. It is 

 a terrible pest there, as it not only devours the corn, &c. in the 

 summer, but lays up a large store for the winter. It is a most 

 furious little animal, and will attack a man or a horse and even 

 a waggon wheel if it approaches too near the spot which the 

 Hamster considers its own property. Hats, mice, lizards, birds, 

 and even its weaker brethren, are eaten by this ravenous little 

 animal. 



It lives in holes underground, and to escape attack has 

 several passages from its chamber leading in different directions. 

 The skin is of some value, and the hunter who spears it usually 

 opens its granary for the sake of its store, which is far from 

 being inconsiderable, a hundredweight of beans having been 

 found in one granary. 



