St Nicholas [serial] . instantly the bivalve shut his shells, and heldthem together so tightly by his strong muscles, thatthe poor mouse could not pull his head out, and sodied of suffocation. Other similar cases have beenknown. The most common of all our field-mice is theshort-tailed meadow-mouse, the Arvicola. I findit in the woods, out on the prairies, and in the hay-fields. In summer these little creatures inhabit thelow, wet meadows in great numbers. When theheavy rains of autumn drive them out, they moveto higher and dryer ground, and look for some hill-ock, or old ant-hill, under which
St Nicholas [serial] . instantly the bivalve shut his shells, and heldthem together so tightly by his strong muscles, thatthe poor mouse could not pull his head out, and sodied of suffocation. Other similar cases have beenknown. The most common of all our field-mice is theshort-tailed meadow-mouse, the Arvicola. I findit in the woods, out on the prairies, and in the hay-fields. In summer these little creatures inhabit thelow, wet meadows in great numbers. When theheavy rains of autumn drive them out, they moveto higher and dryer ground, and look for some hill-ock, or old ant-hill, under which to dig their digging they scratch rapidly with the fore-feet afew times, and then throw back the earth to a greatdistance with the hind-feet, frequently looseningthe dirt with their teeth, and pushing it aside withtheir noses. As the hole grows deeper (horizon-tally) they will lie on their backs and dig overhead,every little while backing slowly out, and shovingthe loose earth to the entrance. These winter bur-. THE MOUSE AND THE OYSTER. rows are only five or six inches below the surface,and sometimes are simply hollowed out under agreat stone, but are remarkable for the numerousand complicated chambers and side passages ofwhich they are composed. In one of the largest rooms of this subterranean house is placed thwinter bed, formed of fine dry grasses. Its sh;and size are about that of a foot-ball, with onlsmall cavity in the center, entered through a hin the side, and they creep in as do Arctic travers into their fur-bags. Thou saw the fields laid bare an waste,An weary winter comin fast,An cozy here, beneath the blast Thou thought to dwell. Here five or six young mice are born, and suntil the coming of warm weather, by which tithey are grown, and go out to take care of theselves. Sometimes one of them, instead of huing up a wife and getting a home of his off by himself and live alone like a herngrowing crosser as he grows older. In the deepest part of the b
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