43tJ THE LEMMING RAT* 



Two of them in a scale weighed down just one cop-, 

 per halfpenny, about the third of an ounce avoirdu- 

 pois ! whence he supposes them to be the smallest 

 quadrupeds in this island. A full grown domestic 

 Mouse would weigh at least six times as much as 

 one of these *, 



THE LEMMING RAT 



T- 



The Lemmings are inhabitants of the mountains 

 of Norway and Lapland. They vary much both 

 in size and colour ; those of Norway being almost 

 equal to Water Rats, while those of Lapland are 

 scarcely as large as Mice. The former are elegantly 

 var egatetl with black and tawny in the upper parts, 

 having the sides of the head and the under parts 

 white. The legs and tail are greyish ; and the un- 

 der parts of the body a dull white. The head of 

 the Lemming is large, short, and tliick. The body 

 is also thick ; the neck short, and the limbs stout 

 and strong. The tail is very short. 



These animals feed entirely on vegetables. In 

 summer they form shallow burrows under the sur- 

 face of the ground, and in winter they make long 

 passages and r the snow in search of food ; fur as 

 t:hey lay up no winter store, they are reduced to the 

 necessity of hunting for it during all the rigours of 

 the cold season. 



* White's Sclbornr. 

 t Synonyms. — Miis Tyemmus. Linn. — LeimnusRat. Lapland Mar- 

 mot, euv. Leii, iig Biif. — Lemming. Fonf oppidan. — .WuK-V Gnu 

 Zoo!. pi. 135. — xii-io. 2'.utd.'3T6. 



