120 RODENTIA. 



Myoxus glis. 



Myoxus glis, Desm. Mamm. Sp. 463 ; Pallas, Zoog. Boss. As. 

 Sdurus glis, Linnaeus. 

 Le Loir, Buffon. 



Description. — Ears large, oval, almost naked; eyes very 

 prominent, edged with black ; upper parts of the body, tail, 

 and exterior of the limbs grey mixed with black, and having 

 a silvery appearance, the hairs on those parts being ash- 

 colour at their roots and for half their length, then either 

 grey, or grey and black ; lower parts white, slightly tinged 

 in some places with rufous ; tail well furnished throughout 

 its entire length with hairs arranged like those of the 

 Squirrel, grey above, white beneath. 



Length of head and body, 5 inches 10 lines ; head, 1 inch 

 7 lines ; ears, 6 lines ; tail without the hair, 4 inches 

 9 lines. 



Lives in woods and forests, climbing the trees and leap- 

 ing from branch to branch with great agility; builds a 

 nest of moss in hollows of trees or rocks ; feeds on nuts of 

 different kinds, and sometimes eats birds' eggs, or even the 

 young birds ; passes the winter in a state of torpor, which 

 is said to be less complete when the cold is more than 

 usually intense. The female produces in the spring four 

 or five young at a birth. 



It is found in Spain, in the South of France, and in the 

 Department of the Moselle ; in Switzerland, Italy, Ger- 

 many, Silesia, Greece, and Russia, near the middle and 

 lower course of the Volga, and in the Caucasus. 



