ZOOLOGICAL NOTES 241 



obscurum, Schreb. ; Sedum villosum, L., very luxuriant ; 

 Ribes Grossularia, L. ; yEgopodium Podagraria, L. ; Montia 

 fontana, Z., *var. major ; Myrrhis Odorata, Scop. : Galium 

 uliginosum, L. ; Valeriana sambucifolia, Mikan ; Crepis 

 paludosa, Moench. ; Arctium minus, Bernh. ; Carduus hetero- 

 phyllus, L. ; *Lamium intermedium, fries; L. album. L. ; 

 Clinopodium vulgare (Calamintha ru/garis, L.} ; ' f Gale- 

 opsis bifida, Boenn; *Thymus Chamsedrys, Fries; *Mimu- 

 lus Langsdorfii, Don ; Veronica Anagallis, -L., with slightly 

 glandular pedicels and graceful habit ; V. scutellata, L. ; 

 Myosotis palustris, Relh. ; M. repens, Don ; Salix pentandra, L. ; 

 S. repens, L. ; *Betula verrucosa, Ehrh. ; Orchis maculata, Z., 

 var. ericetorum (Linton) ; Carex disticha, Huds. ; C. flava, L. ; 

 *Arrhenatherum bulbosum, PresL ; Glyceria plicata, Fries ; 

 Briza media, L. ; Festuca rubra, L. ; Agropyron caninum, 

 Beauv. ; Agrostis alba, Z., var. *gigantea, Meyer. 



ZOOLOGICAL NOTES. 



The Mole (Talpa eitropced] in Bute. In a recent paper on the 

 ' Land Mammals of the Clyde Faunal Area ' (" Trans. Nat. Hist. 

 Soc. Glasgow," N.S. vol. vii.) Mr. Boyd Watt quotes Pennant's 

 statement (1777) that the Mole occurs "among the isles only in 

 Bute a praise to its soil," and remarks, " I do not know that it 

 occurs there now or in any of the other Clyde islands." It may 

 therefore be worth recording that, on nth January 1895, I caught 

 a mole between Barone Hill and Loch Dhu in Bute, as incidentally 

 mentioned in a paper on birds I observed in the island " Annals ; ' 

 for 1895, p. 43. WILLIAM EVANS, Edinburgh. 



Notes on tlie Orkney Vole. During May last I spent a few 

 days at Stromness catching Orkney Voles (M. orcadensis, Millais), 

 and thanks to hints from Mr. Eagle Clarke had no difficulty in 

 discovering their haunts. They seem to be very fond of the roots 

 of the Heath Rush (Juncus squarrosiis) and make holes under the 

 tufts of rushes to get at them. Although I dug out several burrows, 

 I only succeeded in finding two nests, which were composed of a 

 mass of dried grass and small roots. Both were placed in an en- 

 larged part of the hole, not at the end, and only about a foot from 

 the entrance. In neither of these nests were there any young, but 

 perhaps it was rather early, as none of the females obtained were 

 nursing, though several were pregnant with from two to six foetus. 

 The moults in M. orcadensis are rather interesting, and appear to be 

 carried out in two ways. The spring moult takes place about the 

 end of May, and many of the specimens which I caught were in the 

 act of casting their coat. In some specimens the old hair is cast in 

 56 E 



