THE MICE. 



331 



extensive range, at least so far as concerns some of 

 its species. The individuals of the family are 

 commonly small, but what they lack in size they 

 more than compensate in numbers. To outline a 

 general description of the whole family it may be 

 said that their distinguishing characteristics are: a 

 pointed muzzle; large black eyes; wide, deeply con- 

 cave ears with a scanty covering of hair; a long tail 

 sometimes covered with hair or quite as often bare 

 and showing scales; slender legs, terminating in 

 graceful, narrow, five-toed paws; and a short soft 

 fur. Many Mice, however, in the exhibition of some 

 characteristic, show an affinity to other families of 

 the order: thus a bristly, outer fur may recall the 

 Porcupine; genuine swimming feet, short ears and 

 feet may remind us of the Beavers; a bushy tail of 

 the Squirrels, etc. The structure of the teeth in 

 these aberrant species corresponds more or less with 

 the variations of the typical shape. 





with but scanty supply of grass and shrubs, furnish 

 them subsistence. Some shun the proximity of 

 human settlements, others intrude upon and follow 

 Man wherever he goes to make his home, even 

 though it be across the ocean. They infest house 

 and yard, barn and stable, garden and field, meadow 

 and forest, carrying devastation everywhere with 

 their destructive teeth. But a small portion of the 

 family live singly or in couples, the majority being 

 of gregarious habits, and some species occasionally 

 increase to immense numbers. Nearly all are ex- 

 ceedingly fecund, the number of young in a single 

 litter rd,nging between six and twenty -one; the ma- 

 jority have several litters a year, breeding even in 

 winter. 



Principal Mice are an especial annoyance to 



Traits of the Man, their characteristics appearing 



'^'°^- to fit them in an unusual degree for 



the infliction of damage upon his possessions. Quick 



THE JUMPING HABE. While resembling the Jerboa in the remarkable elongation of its hind legs as compared with its fore limbs, the 



Jumping Hare is a much larger and stronger animal. It creeps on all fours when searching for food, but when it wishes to travel rapidly it uses the 

 hind legs alone, making enormous leaps after the manner of the animals pictured here. (Pedetes coffer.) 



Uice now Distrib- Mice are cosmopolitan, but unfortu- 

 utedin all Coun- nately not in a good sense. All con- 

 triea. tinents are inhabited by members of 



the family and those happy islands (if such there 

 te) which so far have been spared their visitation, 

 "will in course of time be populated by one or other 

 of the numerous species. Mice, by reason of their 

 migratory propensities, have secured foothold in all 

 countries and climes, and though they prefer the 

 balmy breezes of the plains of temperate or warm 

 countries to the rigorous climate of high mountains 

 or the cold of the far north, still they may be found 

 in altitudes marking the boundary line between 

 vegetation and the perpetual snow of the mountains. 

 Well cultivated localities, fruit fields and gardens 

 undoubtedly are their favorite haunts, but swampy 

 regions, banks of rivers and small streams also afford 

 •them food and shelter, and even arid, dry plains, 



of movement, they are excellent runners, jumpers, 

 climbers and swimmers; they know how to insinu- 

 ate themselves into the smallest apertures or, if 

 they find no ready made avenue of admission, they 

 open a way by means of their sharp teeth. They 

 are usually moderately sagacious and prudent, but 

 sometimes bold, impudent and cunning; all their 

 senses are well developed, though those of smell 

 and hearing are far superior to the others. Their 

 food consists of all eatable substances of the vege- 

 table and animal world. Seeds, fruits, roots, barks, 

 herbs, grasses and buds, all contribute to their sus- 

 tenance, and are devoured by them with no less 

 avidity than are insects, meat, tallow, blood and 

 milk, butter and cheese, skin and bones; and what- 

 ever substances they cannot eat, they at least gnaw 

 and perforate with their teeth, such as paper and 

 wood. Water they seldom drink ; on the other 



