HERE are very few animals among the | der tail aids it materially in sustaining itself.

order to show the active character of the quadruped one of the harvest mice is represented in the engraving as climbing toward a fly, upon which it is about to pounce. In such circumstances its leap is remarkably swift, and its aim as accurate as that of a swallow. In the airy cradle of the Harvest Mouse may sometimes be seen as many as eight young mice, all packed together like herrings in a barrel.

upon aerial architecture. Consequently the greatly of insects, flies being especial favorites, Harvest Mouse, found in many parts of En-it is evident that great agility is needed. In gland, is regarded with special interest; and this not only because its home is suspended above the ground in such a manner as to entitle it to the name of a true pensile nest, but also on account of its intrinsic beauty and elegance. The nest is generally hung to several stout grass-stems; sometimes it is fastened to wheat straws; and occasionally it is found suspended to the head of a thistle. It is a very beautiful structure, being made of very narrow The Common Mouse, also, is a notable little grasses, and woven so carefully as to form a house-builder, making nests out of various mahollow globe, rather larger than a cricket-ball, terials, and placing them oftentimes in very odd and very nearly as round. The Harvest Mouse places, as the following instances will show: At is an elegant little creature, so tiny that, when the end of autumn a number of flower-pots had full-grown, it weighs scarcely more than the been set aside in a shed, in waiting for the sixth of an ounce, and we can not but wonder coming spring. Toward the middle of winter how it contrives to form so complicated an ob- the shed was cleared out and the flower-pots ject as a hollow sphere with thin walls. The removed. While carrying them out of the shed walls are so thin that an object inside the nest the owner was rather surprised to find a round can be easily seen from any part of the exte- hole in the mould, and examined it closely. rior; there is no opening whatever, and when In the hole was seen, not a plant, but the tail the young are in the nest they are packed so of a mouse, which leaped from the pot as soon tightly that their bodies press against the wall as it was set down. Presently another mouse in every direction. As there is no defined followed from the same aperture, showing that opening, and as the walls are so loosely woven, a nest lay beneath the soil. On removing the it is probable that the mother is able to push earth a neat and comfortable nest was found, her way between the meshes, and so to arrange made chiefly of straw and paper, the entrance or feed her young. The position of the nest, to which was the hole through which the inwhich is always at some little height, presup- mates had fled. The most curious point in poses a climbing power in the architect. All connection with this nest was, that although the mice and rats are good climbers, but the Har-earth in the pot seemed to be intact except for vest Mouse is especially well fitted for climb- the round hole, which might have been made ing, inasmuch as its long and flexible toes can by a stick, none was found within it. The infirmly grasp the grass-stem, and its long slen-genious 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, but allowed a slight covering of earth to remain upon their nest. A number of empty bottles had been stowed away upon a shelf, and among them was found one which was tenanted by a mouse. The little creature had considered that the bottle would afford a suitable home for her young, and had therefore conveyed into it a quantity of bedding which she made into a nest. The bottle was filled with the nest, and the eccentric architect had taken the precaution to leave a round hole corresponding to the neck of the bottle. In this remarkable domicile the young were placed; and it is a fact worthy of notice that no attempt had been made to shut out the light. Nothing would have been casier than to have formed the cavity at the under-side, so that the soft materials of the nest would exclude the light; but the mouse had simply formed a comfortable hollow for her young, and therein she had placed them. It is therefore evident that the mouse has no fear of light, but that it only chooses darkness as a means of safety for its young. The rapidity with which the mouse can make a nest is somewhat surprising. Some few years ago, in a farmer's house, a loaf of newly-baked bread was placed upon a shelf, according to custom. Next day a hole was observed in the loaf; and when it was cut open a mouse and her nest was discovered within, the latter having been made of paper. On examination, the material of the habitation was found to have been obtained from a copy-book, which had been torn into shreds and arranged into the form of a nest. Within this curious home were nine new-born mice. Thus in the space of thirty-six hours, at most, the loaf must have cooled, the interior been excavated, the book found and cut into suitable pieces, the nest made, and the young brought into the world. Surely it is no wonder that mice are so plentiful, or that their many enemies fail to exterminate them.

the finer sorts of grass are used, as well as some stems of delicate climbing weeds, which are no larger than ordinary thread, and which serve to bind the mass together. Interwoven with the grass are leaves, which fill up the interstices. The entrance to the nest is so ingeniously concealed that to find it is not a very easy matter, even when its precise position is known; and in order to show the manner in which it is constructed, one of the Dormice is represented in the act of drawing aside the grass-blades that conceal it. The pendent pieces of grass that are being held aside by the little paw are so fixed, that when released from pressure they spring back over the aperture and conceal it in a very effectual manner. Such a nest is usually about six inches in length and three in width. Although the Dormouse uses this aerial house as a residence, it does not make use of it as a granary. Like many other hibernating animals, it collects a store of winter food, which generally consists of nuts, grain, and similar substances. These treasures are carefully, hidden away in the vicinity of the nest, and in the illustration the animal is shown as eating a nut which it has taken from one of its storehouses beneath the thick branch.

The Stag Beetle and the Golden-crested Wren have been introduced into the illustration to show the comparative size of the animals.

It is hardly possible to overrate the wonderful varieties of form that are assumed by the nests of insects-varieties so bold and so startling that few would believe in the possibility of their existence without ocular demonstration. No rule seems to be observed in them; at all events no rule has as yet been discovered by which their formation is guided; neither has any conjecture been formed as to the reason for the remarkable forms which they assume. In the British Museum there is a splendid collection of curious nests, but none perhaps which awakens more surprise and admiration than the wonderful group represented in the accompanying illustration. Although the seven nests were not all found adhering to a single branch-being placed near each other only to allow of easy comparison-they were all made by an insect bearing the somewhat scientific name of Apoica. This insect, although by no means a handsome creature, well deserves its scientific title. By referring to the illustration it will be of these nests is depicted in the illustration, seen that the nests are by no means uniform in being situated in a hedge about four feet from size or shape. The larger one, which occuthe ground, and is placed in the forking of a pies the centre, rather exceeds ten inches in branch, the smaller twigs of which form a kind diameter, while the small nest at the end of of palisade round it. The substances of which the same branch is scarcely half as wide, and the it is composed are of two kinds; namely, grass- others are of all the intermediate sizes. In blades and leaves of trees. Two or three kinds shape, too, they differ, some being perfectly of grass are used, the greater part being the hexagonal, others partly so, while others again well-known sword-grass, whose sharp edges are nearly circular, though on a careful inspeccut the fingers of a careless handler. The tion they show faint traces of the hexagonal blades are twisted round the twigs and through form. The upper surfaces are more or less the interstices, until they form a hollow nest, convex, according to their size; this form berather oval in shape. Toward the bottoming evidently intended for the purpose of mak

When in a state of liberty, and able to work in its own manner, the Dormouse is an admirable nest-maker. As it passes the day in sleep, it must needs have some retired domicile in which it can be hidden from the many enemies which might attack a sleeping animal. One