DORMOUSE TRIBE, &C. 105 
skins of these squirrels are not very valuable in a 
commercial view* 
DORMOUSE TRIBE, 
These animals live in holes in the ground* 
where they always continue in a state of torpidity 
during the winter. Their pace is a kind of leap, 
in which-, like the jerboas, they are assisted by their 
tails. They feed entirely on vegetables, and eat 
only in the night. In this act they sit upright, and 
carry the food to their mouth with the paws. 
When they are thirsty, they do not lap, (like most 
other quadrupeds,) but dip their fore feet, with 
the toes bent, into the water, and drink from 
them. 
They have two front teeth in each jaw ; the up- 
per wedge-shaped, the lower compressed ; and in 
each jaw four grinders. The whiskers are long. 
The tail is cylindrical, hairy, and thickest towards 
the end. The fore and hind legs are of nearly 
equal length ; and the fore feet have each four 
toes, 
COMMON DORMOUSE, 
This animal is about the size of a mouse, but 
more plump or rounded ; and of a tawny red co- 
lour, with a white throat and full black eyes. It 
lives in woods or thick hedges ; forming its nest of 
grass, dried leaves, or moss, in the hollow of some 
low tree, or near the bottom of a close shrub. 
The dormice have not the sprightliness of the 
VOL. II. 3» 
