106 FAT, AND GARDEN DORMOUSE. 
squirrel ; but, like that auimal, they form little 
magazines of nuts, acorns, and other food, for 
their winter provision. The consumption of their 
hoard, during the rigour of winter, is but small ; 
for, retiring into their holes on the approach of the 
cold, and rolling themselves up, they lie torpid 
nearly all that gloomy season. Sometimes they 
experience a short revival in a warm sunny day ; 
when they take a little food, and then relapse into 
their former state. 
They make their nest of grass, moss, and dried 
leaves ; this is six inches in diameter, and open 
only from above. Their number of young is ge- 
nerally three or four. 
FAT DORMOUSE. 
The fat dormouse, with thin naked ears, is near 
six inches long; its tail four and a half; its body 
is thicker than that of the squirrel, and is covered 
with soft ash coloured hair ; its belly is whitish ; 
and its tail is full of long hair. 
It inhabits France, and the south of Europe * 
and the south-west parts of Asiatic Russia. It 
lives on trees ; leaps from bough to bough ; feeds 
on fruits and acorns ; lodges in hollow trees ; and 
remains in a torpid state during winter, at which 
time it is very fat. 
Garden dormouse. 
This species has its eyes surrounded with a large 
spot of black, reaching to the base of the ears. 
It has also another black spot behind its ears. 
Its head and body are of a tawny colour ; its 
throat, and the whole under side of its body, is 
white, tinged with yellow ; its tail is long, with 
short hair at the base, but bushy at the end. 
