600 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 



ground, and is approached by a hole varying much in length. As 

 the cavity in which the nest reposes is larger than the tunnel, and 

 of a globular form, it is mostly usurped by the wasp when the 

 Mouse deserts it for summer quarters. Sometimes it is placed 

 at some depth in the ground ; but usually is only a few inches 

 from the surface. This is the nest to which Bums refers in 

 his well-known poem upon the Field Mouse whose nest he had 

 inadvertently ploughed up. 



Besides the winter nest itself, the animal has a storehouse or 

 cellar in which are placed the provisions intended for winter use, 

 when the weather prohibits the Mouse from leaving its home, or 

 when the surrounding shrubs and bushes are plimdered of their 

 fruits and denuded of their bark. In this storehouse the animal 

 conceals quantities of hips and other provisions, among which 

 are found numbers of cherry-stones. 



The summer nest is of entirely a different construction, being 

 placed above ground, though tolerably well concealed. The fol- 

 lowing account of it, by Mr. J. J. Briggs, appeared originally in 

 the Field newspaper. " No wonder that in districts where they 

 are difficult to keep down they increase with rapidity, for, like 

 the common Mouse, they are prolific breeders. I have found 

 nests of this Mouse in almost every week from the end of May 

 to the middle of August, and each containing &om one to ten 

 young, usually from five to seven. The young look poor help- 

 less creatures, being both blind and naked. They leave the nest 

 in about a month, but remain with their parents for some time 

 afterwards. 



" The nest is placed on the ground in a pasture or meadow : a 

 field of mowing grass is preferred, but I have found it among 

 com, where the long herbage affords the coveted quiet and con- 

 cealment ; but when the crop is cut, the nest is laid bare, and the 

 young frequently fall a prey to hawks and other depredators. The 

 nest is built in a little hollow on the surface of the earth, just con- 

 cealed at the bottom of the stems of grass. If you pull it out it 

 looks like a lump of herds or flax, being composed of numerous 

 smaU. pieces of grass nibbled to a fine texture with care by the 

 parent animals. 



" I have taken up dozens of nests to examine, but in no single 

 instance could I ever find an entrance to the interior. How the 

 parents gain admittance to it seems extraordinary. This remark 



