Field Mouse, occurred to the Rev. Mr. White, as his people were pulling off the lining of a hot-bed, in order to add some fresh dung. From the side of this bed something leaped with great agility, that made a most grotesque appearance, and was not caught without much difficulty. It proved to be a large Field Mouse, with three or four young ones clinging to her teats by their mouths and feet. It was amazing that the desultory and rapid motions of the dam did not oblige her litter to quit their hold, especially when it appeared that they were so young as to be both naked and blind. The same author appears to be the first to describe and accurately examine that diminutive creature the Harvest Mouse, the least of all the British quadrupeds. He measured some of them, and found that from the nose to the tail they were two inches and a quarter long. Two of them, in a scale, weighed down just one copper halfpenny, about the third of an ounce avoirdupois! Their nest is a great curiosity.

Is about four times as large as a mouse, but of a dusky colour, with white under the belly; his head is longer, his neck shorter, and his eyes comparatively bigger.

This animal is so attached to our common dwellings, that it is almost impossible to destroy the breed, when they have once taken a liking to any particular place. Their produce is enormous; as they bring from ten to twenty young ones at a litter, and this thrice a year. Thus their increase is such, that it is possible for a single pair (supposing food to be sufficiently plentiful, and that they had no enemies to lessen their numbers) to amount, at the end of two years, to upwards of a million; but an insatiable appetite impels them to destroy each other; the weaker always falls a prey to the stronger, and the large male Rat, which usually lives by itself, is dreaded by those of its own species as their most formidable enemy. The Rat is a bold and fierce little animal, and when closely pursued, will turn and fasten on its assailant. Its bite is keen, and the wound it inflicts is painful and difficult to heal, owing to the form of its teeth, which are long, sharp, and of an irregular form.

A gentleman, some time ago, travelling through Mecklenburgh, was witness to a very singular circumstance respecting one of these animals, in the posthouse at New Hargarel. After dinner, the landlord placed on the floor a large dish of soup, and gave a loud whistle. Immediately there came into the room a mastiff, an Angora cat, an old raven, and a large Rat with a bell about its neck. They all four went to the dish, and, without disturbing each other, fed together; after which, the dog, cat, and Rat lay before the fire, while the raven hopped about the room. The landlord, after accounting for the familiarity which existed among these animals, informed his guest that the Rat was the most useful of the four; for that the noise he made had completely freed the house from the Rats and mice with which it had been before infested.

DIFFERS very little from the Land Rat, and inhabits the banks of rivers and ponds, where he digs holes always above the water mark, and feeds on fish, frogs, and insects. The Norway Rat, which has now almost destroyed those of the country, was first known in England about sixty years ago: they live near rivers and ponds in summer, and when winter approaches, they frequent the farm house, burrow in the corn fields, infest the mows and stacks, attack the poultry yard, and commit vast depredations.

Is a native of Canada, and resembles the beaver in many of the habits of life. He has a fine musky scent, and builds his holes in marshes, and by the waterside,

with two or three ways to get in or go out, and several distinct apartments, in the manner of the beaver. He lives upon small fish and water insects.

Is about the bigness of a common rat; his snout resembles that of a hog, and his feet are somewhat like those of the bear, but turned backward, and armed with five strong toes, that have sharp nails; the ears of the Mole are without outside shells, and consist of two small orifices. His eyes are so small, that it has been long believed that this animal, living always under ground, was not provided with the organs of sight. The burrow, in which the female brings forth her young, is strewed with grass and dry leaves for their accommodation, and divides into several holes in different directions to the length of fourteen or fifteen feet, for the security of the family.

The following curious fact is related by Mr. Bruce. "In visiting the Loch of Clunie, I observed in it a small island, at the distance of a hundred and eighty yards from the land. Upon this island Lord Airley, the proprietor, had a castle and small shrubbery. I observed frequently the appearance of fresh molehills; but for some time took it to be the water mouse, and one day I asked the gardener if it was so. He replied it was the Mole, and that he had caught one or two

lately: but that five or six years ago he had caught two in traps, and for two years after this he had observed none. But about four years since, coming ashore one summer's evening, in the dusk, he and Lord Airley's butler saw, at a small distance upon the smooth water, an animal paddling to, and not far distant from the island. They soon closed with this feeble passenger, and found it to be the common Mole, led by a most astonishing instinct from the nearest point of land (the castle hill), to take possession of this island. It was at this time, for about the space of two years, quite free from any subterraneous inhabitant: but the Mole has, for more than a year past, made its appearance again."

AN animal somewhat like the mouse, of the order of Glires. They build their nests either in the hollow of trees, or near the bottom of thick shrubs, and line them most industriously with moss, soft lichens, and dead leaves. Conscious of the length of time they have to pass in their solitary cells, Dormice are very particular in the choice of the materials they employ to build and furnish them; and generally lay up a store of food, consisting of nuts, beans, and acorns: and on the approach of cold weather they roll themselves in balls, their tail curled up over their head between the ears,