THE COMMON MOUSE. 
33 7 
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from the same aperture, showing that a nest lay beneath the 
soil. On removing the earth, a neat and comfortable nest was 
found, made chiefly of straw and paper, the entrance to which 
was the hole through which the inmates had fled. 
The most curious point in connection with this nest was, 
that although the earth in the pot seemed to be intact except 
for the round hole, which might have been made by a stick, 
none was found within it. The ingenious little architects had 
been clever enough to scoop out the whole of the earth and to 
carry it away, so as to form a cavity for the reception of their 
nest. They did not completely empty the pot, as if knowing by 
instinct that their habitation would be betrayed. Accordingly, 
they allowed a slight covering of earth to remain upon their 
nest, and had laboriously carried out the whole of the mould 
through the little aperture which has been mentioned. The 
flower-pot was placed on a shelf in the shed, and the earth was 
quite hard, so that in the process of excavation there was little 
danger that it would fall upon the architects. 
Another nest was discovered in rather an ingenious position. 
A bird had built a nest upon a shrub in a garden, and, as is 
usual in such cases, it had placed its home near the ground. A 
Mouse of original genius saw the nest, and perceived its value. 
Accordingly, she built her own nest immediately below that of 
the bird, so that she and her young were sheltered as by a roof. 
So closely had she fixed her habitation, that, as her young ran 
in and out of their home, their bodies pressed against the floor 
of the bird’s nest above them. No less than six young were 
discovered in this ingenious nest. 
Another very remarkable nest of the. Common Mouse has been 
chronicled in the same journal to which reference has repeatedly 
been made. e Early in March we set a hen; and, as her nest was 
a basket, a sack was placed under and around it, so as to keep 
in the heat. When the hen was set, she was in good feather, 
wearing an ample tail, according to her kind (the Brahma); 
but as the three weeks went on, her tail seemed much broken, 
assumed a dilapidated appearance, and finally became a mere 
c c 2 
