204 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



according to circumstances, and I ought to add that these 

 observations have been confined to a rather limited area. 



The Long-tailed Field Mouse devours corn and pulse of all 

 kinds ; also acorns, nuts, bulbs and roots of various sorts ; and 

 from Mr. Barrington's interesting account of the habits of this 

 animal in confinement (Zool., April, 1882) it appears that the 

 leaves as well as the roots of certain plants are eaten by it. He 

 says, " The leaves of clover, and especially dandelion, were 

 greatly relished, and for an unexpanded flower of dandelion 

 nearly everything else would be deserted." They also ate 

 arbutus berries, gooseberries, apples, grapes, &c., but almonds 

 were not much liked. One I kept would eat the berries of the 

 butcher's-broom. In a wild state they are particularly fond of 

 carrots. Though abroad and active throughout the year, these 

 mice, as is well known, store up underground during the autumn 

 vast quantities of food for winter use, when the hard frozen ground 

 would otherwise prevent them from obtaining a sufficient supply. 

 For this purpose acorns are often chosen. Prof. Bell mentions 

 also nuts, corn, and various seeds, and even roots, as having been 

 found in their winter hoards. Possibly these supplies are some- 

 times exhausted before the return of spring ; for, like rabbits, 

 they will in severe weather, when the ground is covered with 

 snow, devour the bark of young trees. The last-mentioned 

 writer, in his account of the destruction wrought by mice and 

 voles among young trees in the Forest of Dean and in the 

 New Forest during the years 1813 and 1814, states that among 

 the enormous number of small rodents taken in pitfalls, &c., 

 though the greater part consisted of Field Voles, Arvicola 

 agrestis, a considerable number of Long-tailed Field Mice were 

 also caught. The present species, like most of the smaller 

 British rodents, is to a certain extent carnivorous, preying when 

 hard pressed on young birds, &c., and even occasionally on 

 members of its own species. Fatio mentions insects as forming 

 a part of its diet. 



This animal breeds several times during the year, beginning 

 as early as March, and continuing till late in the autumn. 

 Mr. Barrington's experiments prove that a pair of these mice 

 are capable, in a state of confinement, of producing as many 

 as four litters in the space of ten weeks. He found the average 

 number of young in nine litters to be four, five being the 



