THE LONG-TAILED FIELD MOUSE 



be put into their quarters. I have often 

 watched to see what would happen when a 

 new mouse was put into a cage where other 

 mice had been hving for some time past. 

 In the case of voles — either bank voles or 

 meadow voles— there would have been no 

 doubt at all, for they woiild have at once 

 attacked the stranger, and fought with it for 

 hoiu-s before allowing it to go near the nest. 

 In every case my long-tailed mice have shown 

 most perfect manners as long as the stranger 

 was of their own kind, going up to him, sniffing 

 him all over, licking him, and finally taking 

 him into the nest, where a little later I have 

 found them all curled up asleep together. 

 Very different is their behaviour when yellow- 

 necks are put with the smaller long-tailed mice, 

 the bigger kind treating the smaller very badly. 

 This I noticed first when three ordinary long- 

 tailed mice were introduced into a cage where 

 a pair of yellow-necks had been living for some 

 time. They were a beautiful couple, the male 

 being as big and bright coloured a specimen as 

 I have ever seen : the newcomers looked 

 quite dull and dingy by comparison. The 

 big mice came out of their nest and sniffed the 

 little ones over, after which there was some 



135 



