The Dormouse is nocturnal in its habits. During the day it sleeps in its nest or in some snug retreat, and at night comes forth in search of its food, which consists of nuts, acorns, seeds, berries, and the buds of trees and shrubs. It is particularly fond of the nuts of the common hazel, whence its specific name, and the name of “Haselmaus,” which it bears in Germany; these nuts it is said to pierce and empty without plucking them or taking them out of their cups. The Dormouse lives in small societies in thickets and hedgerows, where it is as active in its way amongst the bushes and undergrowth as its cousin the Squirrel upon the larger trees. Among the small twigs and branches of the shrubs and small trees the Dormice climb with wonderful adroitness, often, indeed, hanging by their hind feet from a twig in order to reach and operate on a fruit or a nut which is otherwise inaccessible, and running along the lower surface of a branch with the activity and certainty of a Monkey. Detached articles of food are held up to the mouth by the fore paws, after the fashion of a Squirrel. Towards the winter the Dormouse becomes exceedingly fat, and having collected a small store of food, makes for itself a little globular nest, composed of small twigs, leaves, pine-needles, moss, and grass, and within this, coiled up into a ball, passes into a torpid state. Nevertheless, the winter sleep is not wholly uninterrupted; on mild days the Dormouse wakes up for a time and takes a little of its stored-up food. The female produces usually about four young, in the spring according to Professor Bell, in August according to Brehm; but the former writer thinks that in some cases two broods are produced in the year, as he has received from the same locality in September a half-grown Dormouse and three very young ones, evidently not more than a fortnight or three weeks old. Of the other common European species, the LOIR (_Myoxus glis_) is found only in southern regions, its range extending from Spain to Southern Russia, and passing into the neighbouring parts of Asia. It is considerably larger than the Dormouse, measuring rather more than six inches in length, and has a bushy tail, in which the hairs are arranged in two rows, as in that of the Squirrel. The habits of this species are like those of the Dormouse. Fruit constitutes a portion of its diet, and it is said also to destroy and devour small birds and other animals. The Loir is a very voracious feeder, and becomes exceedingly fat in the autumn. By the ancient Roman epicures it was regarded as a dainty morsel, and they spared no pains to fatten it for the table. It sleeps during the day, and hibernates in some hole in a tree or in the ground, and the nest is formed in the former situation. The female usually produces about six young. [Illustration: GARDEN DORMOUSE.]