The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-12-25
ABOUT MICE.
They Have Social Distinctions, and
Probably a Four Hundred.

From the London Spectator.
There are social distinctions among
mice. The old division into country mice
and town mice is far from exhaustive. 1t
indicates a difference of habit and nab
itat but not of worldly position. Church
mice have been long, and justly, consld-
ed to be the poorest of any. Their food
is mainly dead flies, bran from footstoolS,
and in country districts the remains OF
corn samples which the farmers show one
another at vestry meetings. 1t is a won
der that they ever succeed in bringing up
their families, which, 1t may be noted, are
usually born in nests made of bits of
green or red baiZe taken from the has
socks or pew Innings The most prosper
ous-the exact opposite of the ecclesiastical
mouse-is the collegiate mouse, which
lives on or near the buttery staircase. In
the precincts of the kitchen of Christ
church the mice looks as fat as ortolans;
and in the lobby outside hall these cpl
cures have been observed to sit and warm
themselves by the hot chests holding
Plates of roast meat, enjoying at once the
sense of warmth and that SAVIOR of burnt
offerings so grateful to Olympian nostrilS
These sleek and well-liking buttery mice
are quite distinct from the scholars mouse.
The scholars mouse, like the scholar, lives
plainly but well on quiet staircases, and
loves late hours and lamp, and the COM
pany of studious man With book. Like
the scholar he lives long, and becomes an
ornament to his college, and looks for
ward, no doubt, to the days when the I'M
dergraduate whose rooms he shares will
become fellow and tutor OF his college,
and have larger and better rooms, and
share the biscuit which he eats with his
glass of port with his old friend who kept
him company when reading for the
schools. The Magdalen mice are kept in
check by one of the finest cats in the uni
versity. According to undergraduate be-
lief this cat is on the foundation, and it's
maintenance provided for by endowment.
1t has a sense of it's responsibilities, for
it keeps watch or sleeps outside the doors
of the hall" thus safeguarding the ALI
mentary center of the college.
The market mouse, which haunts Lead
mouse, a modern variety living in Spers
& Ponds refreshment rooms, and occa-
sonally travelling and bringing up its fam
lily in weil-stuffed carriages, the cabmen's
shelter mouse, existing mainly on bits of
mashed potato and crushed oats, and the
zoo mouse are all well-known grades of
the town mouse. The zoo mice are the
tamest and the least nocturnal of any If
il were desired to write a monograph on
their habits. there could be no better pace
asitism. of 'commensalism," to use the
word most in favor for describing unbid-
den guests OF this kind, is not directly de-
pendent on ,,, man, but on OF. other animals;
the public, and only seek to keep on terms
with the animal whose cage they haunt.
II is him that they reconnoitre TO see If
he is asleep his meals they desire to
share, his bed, which they want to steal
little Of and in the case OF some of the
birds, such as the emus, his feathers which
nests. They are bold or careful according
to the character of the animai-prisoner
they live with.
In the gulls' and herons' cages. for in
stance, the zoo mouse is quick and VARY.
For all that the herons often spike one on
their bills, and. after washing Ii well, swal-
low Il. Many of the monkeys will catch
and kill mouse, and so will the storks
and cranes. The antelope-house, on the
other hand, is a paradise for the mice: IL
Is warm, dry and quie., and the antelopes
do not mind them, and have plenty OF oats
which the mice share. They will run
over the Glands when lying down, and
seem TO know that no one can enter the
stalls to disturb them. They also know
that animals which would hurt them are
unable TO get out. Six weeks ago a mouse
trotted deliberately down the center OF the
small cats house at the zoo. The poor
cats. especially the Egyptian wild cats,
were wild with excitement and sprang
about In their cages. But. the mouse
knew he was safe, and etroiled down the
room and out Of the door, stopping at in
tervals with the utmost assurance and
nonchalance. The writer has never seen
a mouse In the elephant house. and IL
therefore unable to give an opinion as 20
the alleged nervousness which elephants
are said 10 feel when d mouse runs over
their foot, bur all mahoutg aiilrm the fact