782 Marvels of the Universe 
The most familiar, and at the same time one of the most beautiful, of the nests made by quad- 
rupeds is that of the graceful little harvest-mouse, a species ranging from Great Britain to Japan. 
This structure was described years ago by Gilbert White of Selborne, who, after mentioning that 
these mice never enter houses, goes on to state that they ‘“‘ are carried into ricks and barns with 
the sheaves : abound in harvest, and build their nests amid the straws of the corn above the ground, 
and sometimes in thistles. They breed as many as eight at a litter, in a little round nest composed 
of the blades of grass or wheat. 
“One of these nests I procured this autumn, most artificially platted, and composed of the 
blades of wheat ; perfectly round, and about the size of a cricket-ball; with the aperture so 
ingeniously closed, that there was no discovering to what part it belonged. It was so compact and 
well filled, that it would roll across the table without being discomposed, though it contained eight 
little mice that were naked and blind.” 
The writer then expresses his wonder with regard to the manner in which the mother mouse 
suckles her young—a problem which, so far as I know, is still as undecided as it was in White's day. 
Nests which would appear to be very similar to these of the harvest-mouse are built by the 
little mouse-lemurs of Madagascar—curious, big-eyed, nocturnal creatures, looking very like dormice 
in general appearance, but cousins of the ordinary lemurs of their native isle, and thus distant 
relatives of monkeys. One of these mouse-lemurs, inhabiting the forests of the Betsileo district, iS 
THE ORANG-UTAN ON ITS NEST. 
This is one of the two nests photographed on the previous page. It is roughly constructed to form a large platform where 
the builders can remain dry and comfortable till the nocturnal dews and vapours rising from the ground have been dispersed by 
the sun. 
