THE DORMOUSE OR SLEEPER 363 



complete shell, but it cannot tell in advance if the kernel is 

 sound, so that its boring operations are often abortive. In 

 captivity it has been known to return to an empty shell and 

 open a second hole.^ With Barcelona nuts it gnaws through 

 the edge of the rough circular patch and then downwards.^ It 

 often drinks largely, bending its head towards the water until 

 its lips are immersed.* 



It seems to be fond of sweet things, for more than one 

 observer has found it devouring the "sugar" placed on a tree- 

 trunk to attract moths,* and Mr E. Bidwell ^ saw one nibbling 

 the flowers of honeysuckle to get at the nectar. 



It will also consume aphides, nut- weevils, and caterpillars, and 

 occasionally the eggs ® of small birds ; but, perhaps on account 

 of its smaller size, it does not appear to be so much addicted to 

 a diet of flesh or eggs as are the larger dormice of continental 

 Europe. Retribution may sometimes overtake it when tres- 

 passing, for Mr A. H. Cocks once found one pecked to death 

 in a thrush's nest. 



Like many other rodents this mouse commonly sits on its 

 haunches when eating, holding its food in its hands. But it 

 will also suspend itself head downwards by means of its small 

 but remarkably strong claws, and even feeds comfortably in 

 that position ; it can run up and down the naked bole '' of a 

 tree with astonishing rapidity. It is, besides, an active leaper, 

 and springs from twig to twig for surprising distances. 



The adults are almost entirely nocturnal, and rarely stir 

 abroad until darkness is complete, but the young are both more 

 careless and more active, and may be encountered by daylight. 

 Comparatively few people, however, happen on one thus 

 adventuring, and, as a rule, the first introduction to it is 



' Reid, op. cit., 99. 2 Adams, MS. 



' H. E. Forrest, MS.; Robert Kerr, Animal Kingdom, i., 270, 1792, thought that 

 when thirsty they " dip their fore feet, with the toes bent, into the water, and drink 

 from them ! " 



' H. Laver ; R. Newstead, Proc. Chester Soc. Nat. Sci., 1894, 248 ; J. R. B. 

 Masefield, MS. 



° Field, i6th July 1898, 134. 



° It is sometimes found asleep on the broken or sucked eggs, but, as in the case 

 of the Hedgehog, damage to eggs is not always intended, and C. E. Wright found 

 one occupying a starling's nest in a hole in an oak, the eggs intact. 



' Cocks, MS. 



