MURID^E 121 



held on with considerable strength, but being placed with the 

 mother soon found its proper hold, which they all seemed to 

 maintain until the eyes were open or nearly so; then I noticed 

 that when the mother desired to miove to another part of the 

 cage — she is very neat — she would turn round and round and 

 seem to twist them loose in a pile, where they would lie quietly 

 until they felt her return, then they would at once attach to the 

 teats, which as you know are placed very far back. 



"I found them, about May loth, and they may have been 

 about a week old. About a week ago (about May 20th), their 

 eyes began to open, and now they are wide open. They eat 

 with the mother, who takes almost anything from- roast beef or 

 bacon, to seeds, fruit, or bread, and is very fond of milk. Wa- 

 ter was first given her, which she lapped like a cat, long and 

 often. I have them in a thin wooden box, with a glass front, 

 for observation. She does not seem- inclined to gnaw, is quiet 

 and not afraid, comes tO' the glass when opened and takes food 

 from my hand, does not ti-y to dart out, nor bite. Sometimes, 

 however, when without sufficient food, she becomes uneasy and 

 gnaws at the wooden box for a short time, but when food is 

 placed in the box she desists. 



"The young now have fully opened eyes, eat everything the 

 mother does, are very playful, running about most of the time, 

 but when too venturesome the mother takes them in her mouth 

 and lifts them bodily back to the nest in the comer, which con- 

 sists of well shredded cotton cloth — ^done by herself. Sometimes 

 she lifts them: by the neck, but mostly by the middle of the 

 side. After playing and eating the mother and young make their 

 toilet, the mother doing mostly for all, but the young try to learn;, 

 then the young attach to the mammse and all sleep. 



"They seem tO' be quite nocturnal, decidedly more active at 

 night, and are out in the da)f only to eat a little. I should think 

 the young are now about four weeks old. They are nearly half 

 the size of the mother and are growing rapidly. The mother 

 and young appear tO' be the same color. They feel a lower temp-- 



