BRITISH MAMMALS 
a snug hiding place for the cold weather. I have known a Wood 
Mouse to have two winter retreats close together, one made of moss 
in a thorn hedge, and the other consisting of a burrow in the ground 
just below. 
When disturbed it would leap from its retreat in the bushes and take 
refuge in the hole underground. 
The Wood Mouse is a favourite prey for Owls, Kestrels, Weasels, 
and other predatory animals. 
BRITISH YELLOW-NECKED WOOD MOUSE. 
Mus sylvaticus wintoni, Barrett-Hamilton. 
Plate 27. 
This handsome variety, first recognised by Mr. De Winton and 
described by him in 1894, is of large size and bright colouring, with 
a well marked band of pale yellowish buff across the chest. The centre 
of this branches upwards and downwards, and forms a kind of cross. 
An adult male has a total length from nose to tip of tail of 8^ inches, 
the tail being usually the same length as the head and body combined. 
The hind feet and legs are very large and strong. The ears are also 
large and beautifully modelled, suggesting in their delicate outlines the 
structure of some sea shell. 
This mouse is very strong and active, and can leap to a considerable 
height. 
It is common in Surrey, where, as in other districts, it seems to occur 
more frequently in houses and garden sheds than elsewhere, though 
owing to its strictly nocturnal habits its presence out of doors may pass 
unnoticed. Every winter I catch numbers in a loft in my house where 
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