Quadrupeds . 220 7 



neighbourhood. I have no doubt that the rat was a doe which had young, and was 

 prompted by maternal affection to take the measures she did : what surprised me was, 

 that she never retreated to a hole or dived under water, which would have been an al- 

 most certain mode of escaping danger. 



Short-tailed Field Mouse (Arvicola agrestis). This mouse is certainly much rarer 

 than Mus sylvaticus, but still not rare. They breed principally in mowing fields, and 

 prefer the meadow to the higher grounds. The nest is frequently mown over about 

 the middle of June, and sometimes contains as many as ten young ones : it is situated 

 in the thickest tufts of herbage, and there is generally a hole near, into which the old 

 parents retreat in cases of emergency : it is round in shape, and composed entirely of 

 dried blades of grass, lined with finer grass nibbled into small pieces. This animal 

 does not lie dormant through the winter, but is very fond of laying himself up snugly 

 in a tuft of coarse herbage, from which he makes several avenues or runs, one of which 

 terminates in a hole under ground : into this he probably retreats as the weather in- 

 creases in severity or when an enemy is at hand. These mice appear to be most 

 numerous on the borders of marshy parts : they are very delicate and tender animals, 

 for I notice that they die upon receiving a very slight blow. The latest period 

 at which I have found a nest was August 12th, 1845: it contained seven young just 

 born. Having carefully examined this nest, I could not discover the least trace of an 

 entrance-hole, nor even when I pulled it to pieces could I ascertain how the parents 

 entered their abode ; and I believe that they must have made a fresh hole each time 

 they entered the interior, and closed it up again when they departed. 



Hare (Lepus timidus). I have little to add respecting the history of this dire enemy 

 to well-cultivated arable lands ; for owing to the enlightened policy pursued by the 

 noble owner of this domain, the hare is here little more than a natural curiosity. 

 Hares appear sometimes to frequent the burrows of rabbits, for I have known several 

 during a coursing-day make for a particular hole, and thus elude the pursuit of the 

 greyhounds, and take as direct a line as though they were accustomed to occupy it. 

 Hares are seen to cross the Trent occasionally when no hounds have been in pursuit 

 to oblige them to do so. 



Rabbit {Lepus cuniculus). On September 20th, 1845, 1 put up from a field of tur- 

 nips a rabbit entirely black. This was distant two miles from any village, and there- 

 fore not likely to have escaped from confinement. The rabbit generally produces its 

 young about seven times in the year, but in open seasons oftener. I have seen young 

 rabbits during the months of January, February, March, April, May, June, Septem- 

 ber, October and November, but the spring is their busiest breeding-season. This 

 animal displays a considerable amount of industry and ingenuity. It loves high, 

 dry and sandy banks, or those where the soil is friable, and in these excavates a pas- 

 sage (I have found one seven yards long), at the end of which it makes the nest. 

 In nine or ten days after the young are dropped the entrance to the hole is completely 

 blocked up with a quantity of loose soil, so that it looks like common ground; and 

 each time the dam goes to suckle them she is obliged to scratch it away, and again 

 block it up when she leaves them. Whether this precaution is taken to protect them 

 against predatory animals, or to render the apartment warmer, it is difficult to say, but 

 probably the latter ; for as they increase in size she gradually leaves the entrance a 

 little wider, until no soil remains there at all. The labour in mining their excava- 

 tions must be very considerable, as in many cases a new one is made upon the pro- 

 duction of a fresh litter. I cannot ascertain precisely what length of these tunnels 



