COLOUR VARIATIONS IN SOLWAY MAMMALS 67 



COMMON SHREW (Sorex araneus). While differing 

 shades of gray and brown are not scarce in this little 

 animal, only one striking aberration is in my collection ; the 

 specimen figured which is a pale-yellow example. It was 

 taken at Glenlee. 



WATER SHREW (Crossopns fodiens]. The specimen 

 figured was captured by myself in Colvend on May 25th 

 1896. I threw my hat at it as it crossed the path in front 

 of me in the gloaming of the summer evening and knocked 

 it over. The patch of black on the lower breast and 

 abdomen is conspicuous. The pubis is also black, and a 

 streak of rusty yellow runs down from the angle of the 

 lower jaw, terminating at the bottom of the throat in a pea- 

 sized spot of black. The black of the back is also far 

 deeper than usual. 



WEASEL (JMustela w//wy). Many years ago I ex- 

 amined in the possession of the late Mr. Hastings, Taxider- 

 mist, in Dumfries, a true albino of this species, while it was 

 still in the flesh. It had been shot in Torthonvald. 



OTTER (Lutra vulgaris}. A white Otter was reported 

 as seen last summer on the Annan by members of the 

 Dumfriesshire Otter Hunt. 



WOOD MOUSE (Mus sylvaticus). -~\\z depth of colouring, 

 and brightness of the lustre of the pelage, varies much with 

 the seasons. The small yellow spot on the breast is mostly 

 present, but its absence is not at all uncommon. The size 

 of the spot is not a fixed quantity, but as yet I have not 

 met with any specimens of the Wood Mouse that had the^ 

 " broad yellow band " said to be distinctive of the species, so 

 called, M. flavicollis. 



COMMON MOUSE (Mus inusculus). It would be hardly 

 satisfactory to assume that the white, particoloured, and slate- 

 coloured specimens, sometimes found here and there, are 

 aberrations of wild origin. These are doubtless only the 

 relatives, one remove, of stray escapes of tame breeds to 

 their feral cousins. 



BROWN RAT (Mus dccumanus}. I have occasionally 

 had examples from a locality near Lochmaben of very dark, 



