128 MARVELS OF THE ANIMAL WORLD 



daytime asleep within its nest amidst the dense 

 parts of the forest. It is a rare animal, and very 

 few have been seen in this country. The natives 

 are very afraid of the creature, believing that it 

 has the power to destroy those who endeavour to 

 trap it or to do it an injury. The late Mr. Lydekker, 

 quoting Mr. L. Baron, tells us that : — ■' It is only 

 a few of the more daring spirits among them, who 

 knowing the odiny, that is the secret by which 

 they can disarm it of its dreaded power, who have 

 the courage to attempt its capture. Now and then 

 it is accidentally caught in traps which the natives 

 set for lemurs ; but the owner of the trap, unless 

 one of those versed in the aye-aye mysteries, who 

 knows the charm by which to counteract its evil 

 power, smears fat over it, thus securing its forgive- 

 ness and goodwill, and sets it free.' 



By far the most proficient of aU the four-footed 

 nest builders is the harvest mouse, a tiny creature 

 which, with the exception of the pigmy shrew, is 

 the smallest mammal found in Great Britain. 



It measures only two and a quarter inches in 

 length from the tip of its nose to the root of its tail 

 — the latter appendage being two inches long — 

 and in weight turns the scales at one-sixth of an 

 ounce. Gilbert White was the first to discover 

 the species in England, and in his famous letters 

 to Thomas Pennant, he wrote : — ' They never enter 

 into houses ; are carried into ricks and barns with 

 the sheaves ; and build their nests amidst the 

 straws of corn above the ground, and sometimes 

 in thistles. They breed as many as eight at a 



