138 DORMOUSE. Class I. 



which distinguish the squirrel kind. These dis- 

 tinctions prevale in the other species, such as the 

 Lerot and Lcir. 



Manners. Dormice inhabit woods, or very thick hedges, 

 forming their nests in the hollow of some low 

 tree, or near the bottom of a close shrub : as they 

 want much of the sprightliness of the squirrel, 

 they never aspire to the tops of trees, or, like it, 

 attempt to bound from spray to spray ; like the 

 squirrel they form little magazines of nuts, 8§c. 

 for winter provision, and take their food in the 

 same manner, and same upright posture. The 

 consumption of their hoard during the rigor of 

 the season is but small, for they sleep most part 

 of the time ; retiring into their holes at the first 

 approach of winter, they roll themselves up, and 

 lie almost torpid the greater part of that gloomy 

 season. In that space of time, they sometimes 

 experience a short* revival, in a warm sunny day, 

 when they take a little food, and then relapse 

 into their former state. 



Descrip- The size of the dormouse is equal to that of a 

 mouse, but it has a plumper appearance, and 

 the nose is more blunt; the eyes are large, 

 black, and prominent; the ears are broad, 



* Not as Martial says in Epigram 59. Lib. XIII. 

 Tota milri dormitur hyems, et pinguior illo 

 Tempore sum, quo me nil nisi somnus alit. Ed. 



tiox 



