Part 17

THE DEATH OF POOR PUSS.

"Here lies poor Puss!"-- "Who saw her die?" asked Grandmother Mouse, Just peeping forth from her hole of a house. "I," said Tommy Titmouse, "I saw her die; I think she was choked while eating a fly."

"Who'll dig her grave?" asked Granny again; In her voice, strange to say, there was no tone of pain. "The honest old dormouse, out in the wood, He'd dig a good grave, if any one could."

"Who'll be the bearers?" The grandchildren all Were ready at once, at sound of the call. "We'll carry Puss, since she can't carry us, And bury her deep, without any fuss."

One seized her fore paw, another her tail, Another her ear, to make sure not to fail. Then off they all ran, for Puss winked her eye, And sprang to her feet, as the mice squeaked "Good-by."

LESSON XXXI.

FIELD-MICE.

1. Some kinds of mice live in the fields and woods, and never come into the house. The tiny little harvest-mouse has its home in the grain or thick grass, and feeds upon grain and insects.

2. It makes a nest of grass neatly woven together, and places it on the stalks, about a foot from the ground, where it is out of the way of the wet.

3. The nest is round, and about the size of a large orange. When the mother mouse goes away, she closes up the door of her nest, so no one can see her little ones.

4. The harvest-mouse runs up the corn and grass stalks easily. In climbing, it holds on by its tail as well as by its claws. The way it comes down from its nest is very curious. It twists its tail about the stalk and slides down.

5. Another of the field-mice is the dormouse, that lives in the woods. It has a bushy tail, and makes its nest in hollow trees. It lives upon nuts and fruit. As cold weather comes on, it rolls itself up in a ball, and sleeps until spring.

6. Once a dormouse was caught and kept in a cage, when it became quite tame, and a great pet with the children. One day it got out of its cage, and the children hunted all over the house, but could not find it, and gave it up as lost.

7. The next day, as they sat down to dinner, a cold meat-pie was put upon the table. When it was cut open, there was the dormouse in the middle, curled up, and fast asleep.

8. The deer-mouse lives mostly in the fields, but it also makes its home in barns and houses. Its back and sides are of a slate color, but the under part of its body, and its legs and feet, are white. It is sometimes called the white-footed mouse, or wood-mouse. It builds a round nest in trees, that looks like a bird's nest, and it lives upon grain, seeds, and nuts.

9. This mouse seems fond of music, and once in a while one sings. Its song is very sweet, somewhat like that of a canary, but not so loud. Mr. Lockwood's singing mouse would keep up its wonderful little song ten minutes without stopping.

LESSON XXXII.

HOW THE RAT LOOKS AND LIVES.

1. The rat looks like a very large mouse. It has the same kind of chisel-teeth, sharp claws, and long tail, and it lives very much in the same way as a mouse.

2. It eats all kinds of food, and will live where most other animals would starve. Its teeth are strong, and it can gnaw its way into the hardest nuts, or through thick boards.

3. The claws of the rat are sharp, so that it can run up the side of a house, or up any steep place where its claws will take hold. When at the bottom of a barrel, or kettle of iron, brass, or tin, it can not climb out.

4. The hind feet of the rat are made in a curious way: they can turn round so that the claws point back. This enables a rat, when it runs down the side of a house, to turn its feet around and hold on, while it goes down head foremost.

5. The tail of the rat is made up of rings, and is covered with scales and very short hair. The rat uses it like a hand to hold himself up and to take hold of things.

6. Rats live in houses and barns, or wherever they can get enough to eat. In cities, they get into drains, and eat up many things which would be harmful if left to decay.

7. They are great pests in the house, running about in the walls, gnawing through the ceilings, and destroying food and clothing.

8. When rats get into a barn, they are very destructive. They eat up grain, and kill young chickens; and they often come in droves, when the pigs are fed, to share the food.

9. Rats increase very fast. Each mother rat produces fifty young ones in a year; and if we did not take great pains to destroy them, they would drive us out of our homes.

LESSON XXXIII.