History of British animals - University of Guam Marine Laboratory

Mrs. MAMMALIA. FERA. 19This speciesis noticed both by Boece and Sibbald, without any facts beingstated illustrative of the times or places of its occurrence on our shores. InDecember 1817, however, a solitary individual was shot while lying on asmall rock at the Sound of Stockness on the east coast of Harris, which wasupwards of 10 feet in length.The tusks measured «4 inches in length. Onthe shores of Spitzbergen it measures 15 feet in length, and 10 in circumference,and the tusks are 20 inches in length. It has been conjectured, thatthe ivory bits which Strabo enumerates in the articles of British commerce,were manufactured from the teeth of this animal. Perhaps the influence ofcivilization mav have so reduced the geographical limits of this species, asnow to confine "its dwelling to the Arctic Seas. It was formerly captured inabundance in the Norwegian SeasĠLIRES.1. Summits of the grinders with conical processes,enamel.covered withGen. XVII. MUS. Mouse.— Incisors with pointed summits ;three grindersin each jaw; destitute of cheek-pouches:hind-legs of moderate length ;tail nearly naked, annulatedwith scales.a. MICE.24. M. Mttsculus. Common Mouse. Bodyabout 3 inches inlengthfur ; yellowish-brown above, mixed with black hairs ;beneath iron-grey.Merr. Pin. p. lfa'7 Sibb. Scot. p. 12 Ray, Quad. 218—M. Mus. Lin..Syst. 1. 83. W, Llygoden G, Luch—Common in houses.;The mouse is remarkably prolific.We have found seventeen young onesin a nest, all nearly of the same size, and blind. Albinoes occasionally occur,and the variety may be propagated.25. M. sylvaticus. Field-Mouse.— Body about 4| inches inlengthfur ; yellowish-brown above, beneath white, the marginof the former colour, and a spot on the breast ferruginous.Sibb. Scot. p. 12 M. domesticus medius, Ray, Quad. 120— 218—M. sylvaticus,Linn. Syst. 11 p. 84—Penn. Brit. Zool. 1. p. W, Lygodenganolig. In ploughed fields and gardens, common.The fur isvery like that of the preceding on the back, but the sides inclineto rufous ; the ears are larger, the head longer, and the eyes more prominent.The weightis about an ounce. The tail is black above, grey beneath, and ofthe length of the body. This species never frequents houses, but takes upits abode in cultivated fields and gardens, forming its retreat under ground,in which it lays up a store of seeds and roots before winter, and, in cold weather,when the air is about eleven degrees above the freezing point,it becomestorpid. It brings forth about nine young ones at a litter.26. M. messonus. Harvest Mouse.— Length of the bodyabout 2J inches, of the tail 2 inches ; fur chestnut-brown above,white beneath, the colours divided by a straight line.White's Works, 1. p. 58 Perm. Brit. Zool. 1. p. 121—Mont. Lin. Trans.vii. p. 274. Hampshire, White. Wiltshire, Mont—Inhabits corn fieldsand ricks in England.O