The daily morning journal and courier., 1903-08-15
WHITE FoOrEi, MICE.
ain't s.,s
 went S
 yitin


 A few weeks ago, was sitting on a moss-covered log in the woods. with my back to standing trunk. had really come to watch the gray squirrels, but for some reason I could not see any, and I was simply waiting for something to turn up" I was listening to the only bird voice had heard all day, that of red-eyed vireo, and wondered how even this indefatigable little preacher of "The Gospel of the Open had energy enough, this hot weather. to continue his address to an empty house" But was 1t empty? I suddenly heard sound which caused me to come to attention. It was quite a slight sound, and might be sug- gested by drawing the corner of an envelope sharply across the face of 8 file. It was the vibratory sound made by a white-footed mouse when 1t signals by drumming with its forefoot on 8 dry leaf I say signals" but am not sure that the sound is a signal; am only led to suspect it from certain experiments have tried. For instance, on one occas- ion I had a number of white-footed mice in a cage of three compartments, and one day suddenly drove them all out of their nest, some of them into each compartment. Then l closed the little doors which connected the chambers, and waited too see the result. At first the mice were too much startled to do anything, but presently one of them raised his right forefoot, half closed his toes. and drummed on the floor as one might drum on the table with ones finger, but so rapidly as to cause a brisk vibration, which lasted for full second or more. Hardly had it ceased when 1t was repeated by one of the mice in another compartment, then by another and and then by the first mouse again. They kept this up, first one and then another, for many minutes, after which they resumed their usual occupations. On another occasion, when one of the mice was alone, I stole quietly up behind the cage and, by scraping on the woodwork with my thumb nail, gave a reasonably close imitation of the sound above men, tioned. Instantly the mouse responded by vibrating his forefoot against the floor, and I have repeated this experi- ment over and over again with other mice, and usually with the same result. But I am wandering from outdoor to indoor natural history.
 I scarcely had time to give the mouse my attention, when out from clump Of weeds sprang the little creature itself, proceeding by leaps across little clear ing in the woods. As she moved she caught sight of me, and paused at the end of @ jump. She was but g. few feet away, 1.-the as a panther in minia- ture, and held my breath lest should startle her and cause the little vision to vanish. Her smooth, soft-looking fur | was yellowish brown on the. back, be- coming brighter along the sides, while her feet and underparts were pure, al- most shining white. Her tapering tail, which was curved gracefully upward, glistened slightly with the short, close l lying silky hairs which covered 1t; her ears were large, thin, rounded and we'll formed, and her whiskers were long and numerous. But it was to her eyes more than to any other one feature that her beauty was due. These were large and black and very prominent, but they were also soft and lustrous, like the eyes of flying squirrel. But my ob- servations on her personal appearance were cut short, for she began to move forward again. But she did not ad- vance by leaps as before. With one eye on me, she crept cautiously along, lift ing one foot at time, like a cat stark ing bird. But she soon abandoned