KODENTIA (mice). 493 



dockyards, Sec, having come over in ships from Egypt, but I 

 am not aAvare that it is established in Britain. 



Three species of Mice are common in Britain — namely, the 

 Common i\[oiise (M. muscidus), the Wood-Mouse (JL sylcatirus), 

 and the Harvest-Mouse [M. messorius). 



The Long-tailed Field-Mouse or Wood-Mi)u>ie {M. ni/lraticus). 

 — This is the largest of our mice belonging to the genus Jhtn. 

 It can be told from the Common Mouse (M. vmsculue) by its 

 warmer-coloured fur, by the greater size of the ears and length 

 of the hind-legs, by the large, very prominent eyes, and by the 

 elongated tail : it is between three and four inches in length, the 

 tail being another three and a half inches long. M. sylvatinis 

 is yellowish-brown with a greyish tinge, and white beneath with 

 a patch of fawn between the fore-legs ; the feet and fore-legs are 

 pure white up to the carpus ; the posterior feet and legs also 

 white below, a white streak running up to the under surface of 

 the body. The long flexible tail is dusky-brown above, white 

 below. This mouse is a great pest to both farmer and gardener. 

 It eats corn, and works along the rows of peas in the garden, 

 whilst nuts, roots, clover, and carrots all fall to its bill of fare. 

 These mice store up immense quantities of food for the winter, 

 but do not hibernate. Wood Mice have been trapped in 

 the hardest weather, when they come out to feed upon the 

 bark of small trees. This species was one of the two that 

 caused so much harm to the trees in the Forest of Dean in 

 1813. It may also take young birds, and I have found the 

 remains of numerous Coleoptera in their stomachs, especially 

 Carabidae. Their burrows are found in banks, old walls, hedges 

 around gardens and fields, and at harvest-time in the fields. 

 They commence to breed in March, and have four litters, the 

 number of young varying from six to nine. The young are 

 said by Gilbert White and Barrington to stick most tenaciously 

 to the teats of the mother when they are frightened. 



The Harvest- Mouse (M. messmius = minutus). — This mouse 

 is bright sandy-yellow, brightest in colour towards the tail, 



