452 " 
MAMMALIA. 
have been stored up in reserve, and becomes very fat. If the 
temperature becomes very low it falls into a lethargic sleep. 
The Dormouse Genus .- — Dormice are pretty little animals, which 
remind one of Squirrels in their habits and external characteristics 
They are sharp-looking, have a soft and thick coat, a long and 
bushy tail, and are rapid in movement. Their muzzle is adorned 
with a beautiful pair of moustachios, or feelers. They climb with 
great ease, for they are possessed of curved and sharp claws, which ; 
enable them to cling to any object. They pass all their lives I 
on trees, and feed chiefly on fruit and wild berries ; nevertheless, 
they will also eat the eggs of small birds, and perhaps even j 
Fig. 186. — Lerot, or Garden Dormouse (Myoxus quercinus). 
the birds themselves. The evening and night are the times 
when they go in quest of food; during day they sleep, curled 
up in beds of moss, placed in the hollow of a tree, or in the crevice 
of some wall or rock. Hence comes the proverb, “As idle as a 
Dormouse.” It is also worthy of remark, that their places of 1 
shelter are almost always turned towards the south. 
In these retreats they rear their families, and pass the winter j 
in a state of torpor, hibernation being a decided condition of their 
nature. If the temperature should chance to rise during their | 
winter sleep, they wake up and feed upon the fruit which they j 
have stored during the summer. A small species, the Muscardine, 
takes the most ingenious precautions to guard itself from cold, or 
