THE FIELD MOUSE 525 



in traps placed around the hives ; and in winter the mice often 

 broke into the hive and ate the honeycomb/ The connection 

 between mice, humble bees, and clover as commented upon by 

 Charles Darwin, is noted above under Grass Mouse at p. 452. 



When climbing the hedgerows, which it does to the very 

 tips of the branches, in search of berries, it frequently uses a 

 bird's nest^ as a dining platform, as perhaps first described 

 by Mary Howitt,^ in 1834, by Mr Charles Oldham,* in 1899, 

 and by H. E. Forrest* in 1907. Sometimes what was meant 

 for a temporary occupation becomes permanent, for Mr Millais 

 (p. 192) found a deserted Blackbird's nest roofed over with 

 moss ; Mr Harting * found another case in which a Missel- 

 thrush's nest, twelve feet up an oak, was roofed with grass and 

 leaves ; and a third instance was met with in the foundation 

 of a Rook's nest in an elm of considerable elevation (Millais, 

 193). It is probable that on expeditions like this it some- 

 times yields to the temptation to devour young birds or eggs, 

 whence these are included in its dietary by J. H. Blasius and 

 Victor Fatio ; Mr G. G. Cummings, however, accuses it of 

 frequently sucking eggs, especially those of finches, and Mr 

 G. H. Caton Haigh has known it to eat the heads off a 

 nestful of young thrushes.'^ Mr Oldham found that the mice 

 do not usually eat the soft parts of berries, but extract the 

 seeds, as in the case of hips, through a hole nibbled in the 

 side ; they then chisel off one end of a seed and extract the 

 kernel. The empty seed-case and the pulp are dropped on 

 the nest until they may form a heap representing the contents 

 of a quart measure.^ It seems that the convenience of a bird's 



' On the other hand, Barry (ed. ii., 1808) states that in Orkney the Field Mice are 

 sometimes deprived of their burrows by the field bees. 



^ Those of Thrush, Blackbird, Hedge-sparrow, Greenfinch (7 feet from the 

 ground), or even the fragile nest of the Whitethroat have been noted (Oldham). 

 C, E. Wright has also seen this (MS. per L. E. Adams). The Bank Mouse makes 

 a similar use of deserted nests (see p. 414 above). 

 ' " In the Hedge-sparrow's nest he sits, I And picks the berries from the bough 

 When its summer brood is fled, | Of the hawthorn overhead." 



Quoted by T. A. Coward, Zoologist, 1901, 221, from Sketches of Natural History, 

 1834, a volume of poems for children. 



* Zoologist, 1899, 27. * Op. cit., 50. « Vermin of the Farm, 1892, 14. 



' In Mr H. E. Forrest's North Wales, 50. L. C. Creaghe-H award (^Field, 20th 

 March, 1909, 510) suggests that a Field Mouse killed a Hedge-sparrow, but the evi- 

 dence is not absolutely conclusive. * Mr Adams has made very similar observations. 

 VOL. II. 2 L 2 



