THE COMMON MOUSE. 603 



the owner was rather surprised to find a round hole in the mould, 

 and therefore examined it more closely. In the hole was seen, 

 not a plant, but the tail of q. mouse, which leaped from the pot 

 as soon as it was set down. Presently another mouse followed 

 from the same aperture, showing that a nest lay beneath the 

 soil. On removing the earth, a neat and comfortable nest was 

 found, made chiefly of straw and paper, the entrance to which 

 was the hole through which the inmates had fled. 



The most curious point in connexion with this nest was, 

 that although the earth in the pot seemed to be intact except 

 for the round hole, which might have been made by a stick, 

 none was found within it. The ingenious little architects had 

 been clever enough to scoop out the whole of the earth and to 

 carry it away, so as to form a cavity for the reception of their 

 nest. They did not completely empty the pot, as if knowing by 

 instinct that their habitation would be betrayed. Accordingly, 

 they allowed a slight covering of earth to remain upon their 

 nest, and had laboriously carried out the whole of the mould 

 through the little aperture which has been mentioned. The 

 flower-pot was placed on a shelf in the shed, and the earth was 

 quite hard, so that in the process of excavation there was little 

 danger that it wovild fall upon the architects. 



Another nest was discovered in rather an ingenious position. 

 A bird had built a nest upon a shrub in a garden, and, as is 

 usual in such cases, had placed its home near the ground. A 

 Mouse of original genius saw the nest, and perceived its value. 

 Accordingly, she buUt her own nest immediately below that of 

 the bird, so that she and her young were sheltered as by a roof. 

 So closely had she fixed her habitation, that, as her young ran 

 in and out of their home, their bodies pressed against the floor 

 of the bird's nest above them. No less than six young were 

 discovered in this ingenious nest. 



Another very remarkable nest of the Common Mouse has been 

 chronicled in the same journal to which reference has repeatedly 

 been mada " Early in March we set a hen ; and, as her nest was 

 a basket, a sack was placed under and around it, so as to keep 

 in the heat. When the hen was set, she was in good feather, 

 wearing an ample tail, according to her kind (the Brahma) ; but 

 as the three weeks went on, her tail seemed much broken, 

 assumed a dilapidated appearance, and finally became a mere 



