Identifier: birdsnature531899chic (find matches)
Title: Birds and nature
Year: 1900 (1900s)
Authors:
Subjects: Birds Natural history
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : A.W. Mumford, Publisher
Contributing Library: Smithsonian Libraries
Digitizing Sponsor: Smithsonian Libraries

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me extent though I havefound o;ie of the shyest species whenin a wild state to be the most readilyand thoroughly tamable. I refer to the deer mice. They are pretty, yel-lowish brown creatures, white under-neath, and have large, dark, brillianteyes and erect ears giving them avery handsome expression. Theirhind legs are much longer and strongerthan those of the ordinary mouse andthey are capable of making extraordi-nary leaps like the animals from whichthey get their common name. When tamed they will learn littleeasy tricks such as sitting erect andbegging for food, coming when calledby name, etc., and are not so ready touse their teeth on the slightest provo-cation, as are their cousins, the bluefield mice. By making pets of wild animalsmuch can be learned of their habits,dispositions, and characteristics. Es-pecially their food habits, which, in thewild state, exert so much influence inthe economy of nature as checks to the undue increase of other species ofanimals, insects, or plants.
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THE WOODCHUCK. VERY similar in its bodily struc-ture to the marmot, of which itis said to be the nearest Amer-ican relative, is the woodchuckor ground-hog (Arctomys mo?iax). Itis about eighteen inches in length, in-cluding the tail. The body is stout,the head broad and flat, the legs shortand thick, the fur blackish or grizzledon the upper portion and of a chestnutred on the under surface of the body.The ground-hog is found in all partsof the region extending fiom theAtlantic coast west to the Missouri,Iowa, and Minnesota. It inhabitswoods, prairies, and meadows, lives onroots, vegetables, and herbs, and isespecially fond of red clover. Itsburrows are large excavations, and inthe early autumn.Mt busies itself instoring provisions for its long winterretreat. It is said to be one of thefirst hibernating animals to retire towinter quarters and one of the earliestto come forth in the spring, the lengthof its retirement varying with thelocality, and being shorter in the souththan in the no

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