192 THE INDUSTRIES OF ANIMALS. 



are so closely pressed against one another that on 

 looking at the construction from beneath, the divisions 

 cannot be seen. One only perceives a surface riddled 

 with holes like a skimmer; each of these holes is the 

 door of a nest. The work may endure for several 

 years ; as long as there is room beneath the roof the 

 young form pairs near their cradle ; but at last, as the 

 colony continues to increase, a portion emigrate to 

 found a new town on another tree in the forest.^ 



The industry of the woven dwelling does not 

 flourish among mammals ; but there is one which 

 excels in it. This is the Dwarf Mouse {Mus minutus), 

 certainly one of the smallest Rodents. It generally 

 lives amidst reeds and rushes, and it is perhaps this 

 circumstance which has impelled it to construct an 

 aerial dwelling for its young, not being able to deposit 

 them on the damp and often flooded soil. This 

 retreat is not used in every season ; its sole object 

 is for bringing forth the young. It is therefore a 

 genuine nest, not only by the manner in which it is 

 made, but by the object it is intended to serve. The 

 "mouse chooses in the midst of its usual domain a tuft 

 with leaves more or less crossed ; but not too inextri- 

 cable, so that there may remain in the midst an 

 empty space, in the centre of which the work will be 

 arranged. Great ingenuity is shown in the prelimin- 

 aries ; the mouse simplifies its task by utilising 

 material within its reach instead of going afar to 

 collect them with trouble. The little animal ex- 

 amines the thicket, and on reflection chooses some 



1 An early description of this bird is to be found in W. Paterson's 

 Narrative of Four Journeys into the Country of the Hotten 'o.'s, 1789; 

 also in Le Vaillant's Second Voyage dans Vinlirieur de tAfrique, 1803, 

 t. iii., p. 322. 



