1G2 CURIOUS HOMES AND THEIR TENANTS. 



THE SMALLEST AND PRETTIEST OF MICE, 



HE BUILDS A NEST LIKE A BIRD. 



His form so slender and graceful, his eyes so 

 bright, without a trace of the fierce cunning that char- 

 acterizes those of the rat ; his sleek, neatly fitting coat 

 of such a rich, red-brown color that shows a variation 

 of tint in different lights, worn with a spotless white 

 vest, and above all his clean and dainty habits, free 

 him from the repulsiveness that seems to belong to 

 other members of his family. 



If Master Tom Thumb, as the old English fairy 

 tale has it, found a mouse in proportion to his own 

 inches, the proper size for his horse, he might with 

 equal justice, as far as size is concerned, have sought 

 a substitute for a dog among the harvest mice, for 

 these tiny animals when full grown are only one sixth 

 the weight and bulk of an ordinary mouse. A grown- 

 up harvest mouse measures, head and body together, 

 about two and a half inches, not counting his tail, 

 which is nearly as long as himself. And as for the 

 babies, they are so small that they might be taken for 

 young hummingbirds, which indeed they rather re- 

 semble. 



Small as he is — much smaller than some insects 

 and spiders — he shows more intelligence than many a 

 mammal hundreds of times his size (a hippopotamus, 

 for instance) ; and his habits, clean and dainty — for he 



