BRITISH MAMMALS 
Order RODENTIA 
Family MURID^. 
Sub-Family Murinae. 
Genus Mus 
THE HARVEST MOUSE. 
Mus minutus, Pallas. 
Plate 26. 
The Harvest Mouse has several characteristic features which dis- 
tinguish it from the rest of the genus. It is by far the smallest and 
also the brightest in colour of our mice, measuring in length of head and 
body from z\ to about 2\ inches, the tail being about z\ inches long. 
The slim and delicate form, rather blunt nose, short and rounded ears 
and small eyes, as well as the faculty it possesses of grasping things with 
the tail, all serve to distinguish this species. 
In colour the upper parts are chiefly golden brown, blending into a 
tawny orange tint about the region of the tail. The under parts are 
white, with the dividing line well defined. 
The young are duller in colour, which is usually described as re- 
sembling that of the House Mouse, but one I have seen in early autumn 
was more or less of a sandy buff. 
The Harvest Mouse inhabits the greater part of Continental Europe, 
but is not known south of the Pyrenees nor farther north than Finland. 
Eastwards it reaches China and Japan. 
II. 1 * 
