1895.] MYODES LEMMUS. 43 

face to disappear in a hole, or the deep shaft leading down to 
te base of the scrub, in which they have taken up their abode. 
Qne of their favourite resorts is at the foot of the road side 
fences; 80 soon, however, as the winter snow lies deep, they are 
seldom seen above it. They do not hibernate, and are not far- 
sighted enough to form åa winter store, so that many, probably, 
die of starvation during that season. 
When the snow disappears in the spring, the fields will be 
seen strewn with dung and sundered bits of grass; and numerous 
round nests, composed of fine straws, which have formed their 
night quarters, will, likewise, be found lying by the sides of 
the ditehes, or at the roots of willow bushes. 
They are not sociable in the sense of several individuals 
deliberately joining company for long distances, and, on the 
whole, keeping together during the march. Therefore they sel- 
dom, if ever, advance in close ranks as generally depicted in 
drawings, as each individual appears to take its own road, even 
if proceeding substantially in the same direction as the others. 
Only at certain points may the wandering individuals be as- 
sembled in great numbers. This takes place chiefly on pro- 
jecting points by a lake, or on the banks of a river. 
Generally they øo their several ways, meet, bark at each 
other, and part again. If two old males meet, a fight often re- 
sults, during which they may wound each others” throats so 
that death may be the consequence. Life quickly leaves them, 
and they die from the slightest injury. 
Pleske? has noticed that during the migration they give å 
soft whistle, by which they, possibly to a certain extent, signal 
to one another, and know each other's proximity. I, however, have 
never made å similar observation. 
Their mental powers stand, clearly, low. The natural im- 
pulse which seems to force them ever onward, appears to have 
-prevailed over all other instincts, and, during the whole” of their 
1 Tbersicht d. Såugeth. und Vögel der Kola-Halbinsel. Theil I, p. 
71. (1884). 
