446 



MAMMALIA. 



the surface of the ground by apertures about an inch in diameter, 

 and placed at a suitable distance from each other. Three or four 

 winding passages, penetrating still farther into the depth of the 

 ground, lead on to an equal number of comparatively spacious 

 storehouses, where the "people of the house," that is, the male 

 and female, hoard up roots of all kinds, which have been pire- 

 viously scraped and dried in the sun, and which are arranged in 

 separate heajDs, according to the nature of each. If, in spite of all 

 these precautions, the provisions get damp, the little animals bring 



J?ig. Is2.— Cauiijagiiul, or Sliort-tuiled riclJ-JIuUse iAnicola urtalis). 



them up again into the open air, and dry them a second time. 

 Looking at these actions, so full of intelligence and reason, can 

 we in all seriousness speak of the mere instinct of animals ? 



The quantity of food which the Economic Mouse stores up during 

 the time of plenty is sometimes considerable ; for it occasionally 

 reaches as much as fifty pounds weight, and in such case forms 

 a resource for the miserable, half-starved inhabitants of eastern 

 Siberia. The natives of this country hunt out these burrows to 

 plunder them, but they always take care to leave a little of the 

 hoard behind, so as not to reduce the industrious collectors to 

 starvation. 



Like the Lemmings, of which we shall shortly speak, the 

 Economic Mice are in the habit of migrating. United in laro-e 



