February, 1879.
THE WEST SHORE.
35
THE HARVEST MOUSE.
There are very few animals among
the Mammalia who venture to exert
their skill upon aerial architecture.
Consequently the Harvest Mouse is re
garded with special interest; and this
not only because its home is suspended
above the ground in such a manner as
to entitle it to the 1 am: of a true pen
sile nest, but also on account of its in
trinsic beauty and elegance. The nest
is generally hung to several stout grass
stems; sometimes it is fastened to wheat
straws; and occasionally it is found
suspended to the
head of a thistle.
It is a very beau
t i f u 1 structure,
being made of
narrow grasses,
a n d woven so
carefully as to
form a hollow
globe, rather lar
ger than a cricket-ball,
and very
nearly as round.
It is so firm that
one of them has
been rolled across
the table, and yet
the eight young
blind mice, pack
ed within as tight
as herrings in a
barrel, never
rolled out. The
marvel is, that
unlike birds'
nests it seems lo
have no entrance,
si 1 that bow the
owner of the
mansion gets in
anil nut remains
a secret. We can
only see the inte
rior by breaking
down the grassy
walls, and then,
alaal w ith all our
bricks and mor
tar, and our clev
er h a n d s, we
could never put
them up again.
The h a r v e st
mouse is an ele
gant little crea
ture, its fur is
about the color
of the squirrel'i, and so soft and thick,
it feels like a little velvet cushion; it it
so tiny that when ftdl grown, it weighs
scarcely morcthan the sixth of an ounce,
and we cannot but wonder how it "
I rives to form so complicated an object
as a hollow sphere with thin walls.
The food of the harvest mouse con
sists principally of insccti, flic being
pccial favorites, although it now and
then cats nuts, and should you at some
time find in the field an empty nut-shell
with a cleanly cut round hole in it mid
all the kernel gone, you may he quite
sure that the harvest mouse has been
over the ground before you.
COLORS IN PUMfltURK
Blue is not advisable in rooms where
hard service is expected, or much ex
posure to light and sun necessary.
Crimson is not a serviceable color for
furniture, turning gray and fading in
spite of care, though crimson and ma
roon are admirable in carpets, holding
their own against time, and hard use,
nil. RAHVm HOI HE,
and abuse, even, ama.ingU. Never
theless, one lequires much patience
when she takes into her house red and
black, or red and maroon carpet, for not
a eck of dust, a thread of material of
.my color, a hair, even, can escape de
tection, ami a broom i constantly re
quired. The word fonttantly i scd
advisedly, no other suiting lh emer
gency. Nevertheless, no carpal gives
such pretty lights and reflections, or
so much cheerful warmth and beauty,
as one of these troublesome, monotone
shaded red ingrains. Indeed, in colors,
carpets have the advantage decidedly.
Take green, for instance, (ireenrcp,
which was so popular and pretty not
long since, soon fades, turns rusty, din
gy, gray; it is, if anything, worse than
crimson ; but a green carpet, particularly
the olive shades, wears admirably,
though changing slightly if in too
strong sunlight, as all colors do, mine
01 les.
With brown and gray the case seems
reversed, since a brown carpet gets
dingy, and a brown and gray one com-
limed noodi a
good deal of
bright color to
give any air of
comfort or of
cheer M a room
in which it is,
This is not true
of brown car
pets, whose
tones incline to
butler nut' or
minium, bill of
the cool, pUli
l'l o w 11 s and
grays. On the
contrary, chairs
and solus up
holstered in
blown prove
the most '.iii
facto r y, Ml
haps, of all,
since thev keep
warm, rich tints
and m e 1 1 0 w
shiidowniu spile
bf sun and loin .
Cray it veiy
lovely for furni
ture, but rutin 1
1I1 In ate; it is
eecially hand
some when re
licxcd by pnf.
tings of CHI lei,
1 rlmiOnOf blue.
A large lint
ol m(I HI the
1I1 ll.iol ihe I ra
se I 1 is i-f , II. I '.,
is' about lo bt
il vked. w 1 1 1
when eutopic
ted will In-
qual to the 1.1
iiioiis Swinoiiiisli Il.tl, Washington Ter
rilory. J. A. Navarre, of Victoria, II.
C., is the H m 1 mil in!, ol of the work,
and nlMtes that these lands arc to be let
01 huld In any one applying foi them.
Iliitish Columbia oilers a most excel
lent home market, at fair prices, for
all produce. Oregon shipped about
(yx barrel of limn lo our llritmh
Columbia neighbors during 1H7M.