List of the Fauna of the County. 175 



greatest enemies, the Short-eared Owl [Otus brachyotos) 

 being a great destroyer of them.^ 



Arvicola glareolus. Ked Field Vole or Bank Vole. — This 

 vole is by no means common in Essex, according to my 

 experience, although the first recorded specimen as British 

 was described by Yarrell from an Essex example ( ' Proc. 

 Zool. Soc' 1832). I have seen a specimen from West 

 Bergholt and another from Layer-de-la-Hay, and I daresay 

 more might be found if observers would carefully examine 

 those voles they meet with. The habits of A. ylareolus 

 appear to be similar to A. ayrestis, but I think they are never 

 found in such damp situations as the Field Vole. The only 

 character to be entirely depended on to distinguish them is 

 in the teeth. Colour, length of tail, and brush at the end of 

 tail are uncertain marks in such a variable family, so that I 

 would advise no one to trust any of these singly in the 

 identification of specimens. 



RODENTIA. LePORID^E. 



Lepus timidus. Common Hare. — I shall say little about 

 this animal, as it must be so well known to everyone. It 

 occurs in all parts of the county, and is, from its manner of 

 feeding, a great pest to the corn-grower and gardener. Hares 

 vary much in weight : in this county from seven pounds to 



^ [A passage occurs in the last edition of Yarrell's ' British Birds ' 

 which illustrates these observations of Mr. Laver. Speaking of the 

 Short-eared Owl, the author remarks (Vol. i., 165) : — " But undoubtedly 

 tield-mice, and especially those of the short-tailed group, or voles, are its 

 chief objects of prey, and when these animals increase in an extraordinary 

 and unaccountable way, as they sometimes do, so as to become extremely 

 mischievous, owls, particularly of this species, flock to devour them. 

 Thus there are records of " a sore plague of strange mice " in Kent and 

 Essex in the year 1580 or 1581, and again in the county last mentioned 

 in 1648. In 1754 the same thing is said to have occurred in Hilgay, near 

 Downham Market, in Norfolk, while within the present century the Forest 

 of Dean, in Grloucestershire, and some parts of Scotland, have been simi- 

 larly infested. In all these cases owls are mentioned as thronging to the 

 spot and rendering the greatest service in extirpating the pests." ' History 

 of British Birds,' by William Yanell. 4th Edition. London, 1872.— En.] 



