SOME OBSERVATIONS ON BRITISH MICE. 357 



"were caught in the space of four months, and paid for at 

 a fixed rate per head. The Crown was, however, served 

 far more efficiently by unpaid servants, self-constituted pro- 

 tectors of the young trees, in the persons of hawks, owls, 

 magpies, crows, and other birds of kindred tastes, while 

 stoats and weasels also took part in the carnage. Probabty 

 200,000 perished in all, and the plague was stayed. 



The vole is well fitted for his life in the open field, by 

 having his eyes set very much on the top of his head, so that 

 he may keep a good look-out for danger in the quarter from 

 which it usually threatens, namely the sky. But while this 

 provision is well enough to secure him from being a victim to 

 the hawks, it renders him very liable to danger from pit- 

 falls. The vole performs his daily activities with his gaze 

 directed skywards, so that any sudden inequality in the sur- 

 face of the ground sends him headlong. When kept in cap- 

 tivity they are always running over the edges of the table 

 upon which j^ou may place them to exercise, and a much- 

 valued vole of mine killed himself by falling from a landing 

 to the bottom of the house. The same thing holds good in 

 respect of prairie dogs (who, be it remembered, are rodents 

 like the voles), and I met with an account of some experi- 

 ments a short time since, which consisted in placing these 

 animals upon chairs and tables. The foolish creatures, ac- 

 customed to the boundless level prairie, at once started off 

 at a brisk trot, and were greatly surprised to find themselves 

 suddenly upon the floor. 



The damage inflicted upon the young saplings reminds us 

 again of its relation, the beaver, whose staple food is bark 

 find young shoots of trees. 



The vole does not hibernate during the winter, and its 

 tracks may easily be seen in the snow. I have not been able 

 to ascertain whether any food is stored for winter use, but 



