HARVEST MOUSE. 
BO 
nest for their young very near the surface of the 
ground, and often in a thick tuft of grass. They 
are said to do more mischief in France, than all 
the other animals and birds taken together. 
Harvest mouse. 
The Rev. Gilbert White seems to have been 
the first who examined this diminutive and slender 
species of mouse, which hitherto appears to have 
been only found in Hampshire. It is, he says, 
somewhat of a squirrel colour, with a white belly ; 
having a straight line along the sides, dividing the 
shades of the back and belly. 
One of the nests of these little animals he pro- 
cured. It was most artificially platted, and com- 
posed of the blades of wheat ; perfectly round, 
and about the size of a cricket-ball ; with the aper- 
ture so ingeniously closed, that there was no dis- 
covering to what part it belonged. It was so com- 
pact and well filled, that it would roll across the 
table without being discomposed, though it con- 
tained eight young mice that were naked and blind. 
As this nest was perfectly full, how could the dam 
come at her litter respectively so as to administer 
a teat to each ? Perhaps she opens the different 
places for that purpose, adjusting them again 
when the business is over ; but she could not pos- 
sibly be contained herself in the ball with her 
young, which, moreover, would be daily increasing 
in bulk. . This wonderful procreant cradle, an ele- 
gant specimen of the efforts of instinct, was found 
in a wheat field, suspended in the head of a this- 
tle. 
Mr. White remarked, that though the harvest 
mice hang their nests above the ground, yet in 
winter they burrow deep in the earth, and make 
warm beds of grass ; but their grand rendezvous 
