With the exception of the Lesser Shrew the pretty little Harvest Mouse is the smallest of British mammals. It long held that distinction, until the Lesser Shrew was shown to be a distinct species and not the young of the Common Shrew. The Harvest Mouse will always be associated with the name of Gilbert White, for it was in his letters to Pennant that it was first made known as a British mouse, and its appearance and habits were published by Pennant in his "British Zoology." The head and body combined measure less than two and a half inches, and the nearly naked, scaly tail is almost as long. The thick, soft fur of the upper side is yellowish-red in colour, and of the under parts white; the two colours being rather sharply separated. The tail is exceedingly pliant and prehensile, and serves as an additional foot, being at once coiled around any suitable object within reach. It has bright black eyes, short blunt nose, and short rounded ears, the latter about one-third the length of the head. [Illustration: _Pl. 56._ _G 86._ *Harvest Mouse (_enlarged_).* Micromys minutus.] [Illustration: _Pl. 57._ _G 87._ *Nest of Harvest Mouse.* The wonderfully woven ball which serves as nursery.] It is found chiefly in the South of England, becoming less abundant as we go north. In Scotland it is very scarce, and it does not occur in Ireland. It is more generally distributed on the Continent, where it ranges from Northern Italy to Russia and Siberia. The usual habitats of the Harvest Mouse are pastures and cornfields, where it climbs the stems of the tall grasses and corn plants, cutting off the ripe ears and carrying them to the ground where it picks out the grain. During the summer it feeds largely upon insects, caught in the same situations. At the same season it stores up much grain in burrows for use in the winter between its periods of sleep. Sometimes, however, instead of wintering in burrows in the earth, it tunnels into hayricks, and if undisturbed may even bring up a litter or two in the rick; as a rule it constructs the wonderful nursery which has won human admiration ever since White made the species known.