THE MOUSE. 233

they abandoned their attempts though a single mouse would
occasionally reconnoitre the scene, apparently unsatisfied with
the defeat. Mice, like many other animals, are said to be
much affected by music.

The The harvest mouse is a most interesting little
Harvest creature; whose habits are thus described by
Mouse. White of Selbome:—“ They build their nest amidst

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 I procured this autumn, most artificially plaited, 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 is 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. As this nest
was perfectly full, how could the dam come at her litter
respectively so as to administer a teat to each? Perhaps
she opens different places for that purpose, adjusting them
again when the business is over; but she could not possibly
be contained, herself, in the ball with her young, which more-
over would be daily increasing in bulk. This procreant
cradle—an elegant instance of the efforts of instinct—was found
in a wheat field, suspended in the head of a thistle.”
The Field There are two kinds of field mice, the long-
Mouse. tailed and the short-tailed varieties. The long-
tailed field mouse is the mouse immortalised by Burns, and
is found throughout Europe. The short-tailed variety occupies
much the same geographical area, though it probably extends
further. The latter are very destructive, and have sometimes
increased to such an extent, that organised efforts have had
to be made to exterminate it.
The The common dormouse, and the greater dor-
Dormouss. mouse are the principal varieties of this interesting