THE HAMSTER. 137 
of the Hainster, a short description of its external appearance will be 
necessary. 
The colour of its fur is a greyish fawn on the back, deepening into black 
on the under portions of the body, and softening into a yellow hue upon the 
head and face. The otherwise uniform tinting of the fur is relieved by some 
patches of whitish yellow upon the cheeks, shoulders, and sides, ‘The 
creature is furnished with two large cheek-pouches, which are capable 
of containing a considerable 
amount of food, and which can 
be inflated with air at the plea- 
sure of the animal. The length 
of the adult Hamster is about 
fifteen inches, the tail being only 
three inches long. 
The Hamster is most destruc- 
tive to the crops, whether of 
corn, peas, or beans, and, when 
the autumn approaches, begins 
to plunder the fields in a most 
systematic manner, for the pur- 
pose of laying up a winter store 
of provisions. By dint of dexter- 
ous management, the animal 
fills its cheek-pouches with grain, 
pressing it firmly with its paws, 
so as to lose no space, and then 
carries off its plunder to its 
subterranean treasury, where it 
disgorges the contents of the 
pouches, and returns for another 
supply. The husbandmen are 
so well aware of this propensity 
that they search after the habita- 
tion of the Hamster after the 
harvest is over, and often re- 
cover considerable quantities 
of the stolen grain. The de- 
structive capability of the animal 
may be gathered from the fact 
that a single Hamster has been 
known to hoard no less than 
sixty pounds of corn in_ its 
y (ie hi home, while a hundredweight 
7K W wk of beans have been recovered 
YAR Vb from the storehouses of another 
! ie | \eieeere | specimen. : 
HARVEST MOUSE.—(Aficromys miniitus.) The skin of the Hamster is 
of some value in commerce, se 
that the hunters make a double use of a successful chase, for they not 
only recover the stolen property of the agriculturist, but gain some profit by 
selling the skins. i : 
THERE are many animals which have been saddled with a bad reputation 
merely on account of an unfortunate resemblance to another animal of really 
evil character. Among these misused innocents the WATER VOLE, popularly 
called the WATER Rat, is very conspicuous, as the poor creature has been 
