53 VIRGINIAN., WANDERING MOUSE, &C. 
' >' 
Virginian mouse. 
The Virginian mouse lias pointed ears ; a black 
pointed nose ; and long whiskers. Its fur is very 
short; its limbs are very slender ; its tail very 
thick at the base, and all beset with long hair, 
tapers gradually to a point, and is very long and 
slender. The colour of this animal is universally 
white. The thickness at the base of the tail is its 
specific difference. 
Wandering mouse. 
This species has an oblong head, a blunt nose, 
with a red tip, and yellow cutting teeth. Its eyes 
are placed midway between the nose and ears ; 
its ears are large, oval, and naked; but dusky 
and downy at the tips ; its limbs are slender ; its 
tail is longer than the body, and very slender 
also ; its colour above is pale ash, mixed and 
waved with black ; with a black line along the 
back. The ends of its limbs arc whitish. Its 
body and tail are each about three inches long. 
It inhabits the whole Tartarian desert. At certain 
times, they wander about in great flocks, migrating 
from place to place during the night. They are 
observed in birch woods as high as 57° North. 
They are of a very tender nature, soon become 
torpid, and sleep rolled up in a cold night, even 
in the month of June. They live in holes and 
fissures of rocks. The Tartars call it the grega- 
rious mouse. 
Birch mouse. 
The birch is still less than the w andering mouse. 
]Like it, it is very tender, and soon grows torpid 
