CHAPTER X. 
PENSILE MAMMALIA. 
The Harvest Mouse — Its appearance — Reason for its name — Mouse nests 
— Home of the Harvest Mouse — A curious problem — Food of the Harvest 
Mouse, and its agility — The Squirrel — Its summer and winter ‘ cage ’ — 
Boldness of the Squirrel — Materials for the nest, and their arrangement. 
There are not many mammalia which make pensile nests, 
and we are, therefore, the more pleased to find that one of 
the most interesting inhabits this country. This is the well- 
known Harvest Mouse ( Micromys minutus ), the smallest 
example of the mammalia in England, and nearly in the 
world. 
This elegant little creature is so tiny that, when full-grown, 
it weighs scarcely more than the sixth of an ounce, whereas 
the ordinary mouse weighs almost an entire ounce. Its colour 
is a very warm brown above, almost amounting to chestnut, 
and below it is pure white, the line of demarcation being 
strongly defined. The colour is slightly variable in different 
lights, because each hair is red at the tip and brown at the 
base, and every movement of the animal naturally causes the 
two tints to be alternately visible and concealed. 
It is called the Harvest Mouse, because it is usually found 
at harvest time, and in some parts of the country it is captured 
by hundreds, in barns and ricks. To the ricks it could never 
gain admission, provided they are built on proper staddles, 
were it not that it gets into the sheaves as they stand in the 
field, and is carried within them by the labourers. Other 
mice, however, are sometimes called by this name, although 
they have no fair title to it ; but the genuine Harvest Mouse 
can always be distinguished by its very small size, and the 
