196 HOMES WITHOUT HAIJDS. 



of their hind feet. It is also a noticeahle fact, that the joint of 

 the hind foot is so loosely articulated that it can be turned nearly 

 half round, and so permits great freedom of movement. The 

 Harvest Mouse is even better constructed for climbing than the 

 ordinary mouse, inasmuch as its long and flexible toes can grasp 

 the grass-stem as firmly as a monkey's paw holds a bough, and 

 the long, slender tail is also partially prehensile, aiding the 

 animal greatly in sustaining itself, though it is not gifted with 

 the sensitive mobility of the same organ in the spider, monkey, 

 or kinkajou. 



As the food of the Harvest Mouse consists greatly of insects, 

 flies being especial favourites, it is evident that great agility is 

 needed. In order to show the active character of the quad- 

 ruped, one of the Harvest Mice is represented in the act of 

 climbing towards a fly, on which it is about to pounce. Under 

 such circumstances, its leap is remarkably swift, and its aim is 

 as accurate as that of the swallow. Even in captivity, it has 

 been known to take flies from the hand of its owner, and to leap 

 along the wires of its cage as smartly as if it were trying to 

 capture an insect that could escape. 



The Harvest Mouse is tolerably prolific, and in the airy cradle 

 may sometimes be seen as many as eight young mice, all packed 

 together like hemngs in a barrel. 



There is another well-known British mammal which, at all 

 events at one season of the year, may be classed among those 

 creatures who build pensile nests. This is the common Squirrel, 

 so plentiful in weU-wooded districts, and so scarce where trees 

 are few. 



The Squirrel is an admirable nest-builder, though it cannot 

 lay claim to the exquisite neatness which distinguishes the 

 harvest mouse. As is well known, the Squirrel constructs two 

 kinds of nests, or " cages," as they are popularly called, one being 

 its winter home, wherein it can remain in a state of hybernation, 

 and the other its summer residence. These two nests are as 

 difi'erent as a town mansion and a shooting-box, the former being 

 strong, thick-walled, sheltered, and warm, and the other light 

 and airy. The winter cage is almost invariably placed in the 

 fork of some tree, generally where two branches start from the 

 trunk. It is well concealed by the boughs on which it rests, and 



