The adults have usually retired by the middle of October, by which date they have prepared for a long sleep by accumulating much fat beneath their coats, and make further provision by laying up a store of nuts. The reason for the latter is that the Dormouse's sleep is not continuous. It wakes up at intervals, has a good meal, and resumes its sleep. Its activities are not resumed until the spring, so that its retirement lasts nearly for half the year. Its winter nest is usually under moss among roots, or far underground. Its sleep is profound, without breathing, and it becomes absolutely cold. The food of the Dormouse is much the same as the Squirrel's, but it is particularly fond of the hazel-nut, a good fat producer, and the "haws" of the whitethorn. It does not crack the shell of the nut, but gnaws quite a small hole, extracting the kernel piecemeal. In addition it eats many insects, and sometimes indulges in birds' eggs or even the birds themselves, if they can be captured. The Dormouse is frequently kept as a pet for children, for which its gentle, fearless manner and non-disposition to bite seem to make it specially suitable; but we have found it regarded by youngsters as "a bit of a fraud" in this character, for as they have said, "It doesn't wake up until we are asleep." We have found that in semi-captivity it woke on most evenings throughout the winter to enjoy a supper of apples and nuts. Freshly captured specimens become tame at once. Ours were fond of climbing the long window curtains and hunting for flies--for the Dormouse is insectivorous as well as frugivorous. It is not given to the gnawing of wood, like the true Mice; and it is said to be one of the creatures that are immune to Viper poison. The Dormouse is a European animal, but it does not extend northwards of Sweden. In agreement with this distribution, it does not occur in Scotland. From Ireland it is entirely absent. Eastward it extends only to Asia Minor. The head is comparatively large, with blunt muzzle, prominent eyes, broadly rounded short ears, and long whiskers. The dentition is much the same as that of the Squirrel: there is a single large incisor on each side of the upper and lower jaws, and one premolar and three molars after a considerable blank: _i 1/1, c 0/0, pm 1/1, m 3/3 = 20_. The enamel ridges of these cheek-teeth constitute a rasping surface such as no other mammal possesses. The soft, dense fur of the Dormouse was of repute anciently as a remedy for ear diseases and paralysis. The English name can be traced back certainly to the fifteenth century, and is considered to embody the verb _dorm_ = to doze, still used in the North of England, which brings it very close to the Sleepmouse of Southern England and Sleeper of other parts. Derrymouse, Dorymouse, and Dozing-mouse are other local variants. Albino varieties are very rare; but individuals with white-tipped tails are reported not infrequently. *Harvest Mouse* (_Micromys minutus_, Pallas).