The nest of the Hastings River mouse Pseudomys oralis.

Abstract

THE most detailed information on the burrows and nests of Australian small mammals are reported by Watts and Aslin (1981). The nests of several species of Pseudomys have been described and vary between species. Three nests of the New Holland mouse Pseudomys novaehollandiae were excavated from sand burrows and described as being partially comprised of Eucalypt leaves (Kemper 1981). In South Australia, silky mice P. apodemoides construct nests of shredded bark within a nest chamber of approximately 15 cm (Watts and Aslin 1981). The desert mouse P. desertor reputedly builds dry grass nests in shallow constructions (Read et al.1999) and the long-tailed mouse P. higginsi and eastern chestnut mouse P. gracilicaudatus, delicate mouse P. delicatulus and Gould’s mouse P. gouldii all construct nests of plant material (Watts and Aslin 1981; Green 1993; Fox 1995) mostly grass. The nests of the smokey mouse P. fumeus are constructed of dried grass and Allocasuarina needles that are shaped in a cup form (10-15cm in diameter) (Woods and Ford 2000).