172 T. V. EOEEETS HEETFOEDSHIEE MAMMALIA. 



On one occasion lie killed with a stick three young ones out of a 

 number that were on a path, and before he could fetch his gun, 

 which was near, the dam had carried away her dead little ones. 



I exhibit from this neighbourhood a squirrel {Scinrns vulgaris), 

 which is I think a fine specimen. Also a dormouse {Myoxus avel- 

 lanarius) which was taken near Aldenham. I fancy the species is 

 not very abimdant in the comity. It is said in the ' Zoologist ' for 

 December, 1887, that donnice are veiy common in nut-rows on 

 Buckland Common, on the borders of Buckinghamshire, adjoining 

 Hertfordshire. At Haresfoot I was told that a nest had been found 

 many years ago, but that none had been noticed since. 



Mr. Cane, the ornithologist, of Luton, in January, 1892, informed 

 Mr. Lewis of a black rat which had been taken near Wheathamp- 

 stead, and which appeared to him to be the Mtis hibernicus of 

 Thompson. This is a black rat with a white chest, specimens of 

 which have been found in Ireland, and as to which a good deal 

 of controversy has arisen among naturalists, some considering it a 

 distinct species and others only a variety. Mr. Cane compared this 

 specimen most carefully with the plates and descriptions in the 

 ' Zoologist,' and could see no difference between it and those desig- 

 nated Mus hihernicus. I paid him a visit and took a careful note of 

 the various markings and peculiarities of the specimen which he 

 had stuffed. I sent these particulars to Mr. Oldfield Thomas, of the 

 British Museum (Natural History), South Kensington, who is a 

 recognised authority on these matters. In reply he wrote: "To 

 the best of my belief Mus hihernicus is nothing more than a melanoid 

 variety of the common grey rat {Mus decumanus). Its spasmodic 

 occurrence wherever the latter is found is therefore only to be ex- 

 pected, but the Luton [Wheathampstead] case is interesting as 

 showing that the form does occur in England." 



The water-vole (Arvicola amj)}iihia) exhibited came to its end 

 in a rather curious manner. It was started on the island lying 

 between the backwater and the canal at Russell Farm, near Wat- 

 ford, the island being connected with the farmyard by a plank- 

 bridge. The vole ran all along the bridge right into the jaws of 

 a cat which was waiting at the other end. AYhat induced an 

 animal so amphibious to cross the bridge instead of jumping into 

 the stream where it would have been safe it is hard to say. Here 

 and there on the banks of the Colne, regular runs may be noticed 

 leading from the water-side to trees or hedges (often at a consider- 

 able distance) where rat-holes are visible, and sometimes at the 

 entrance to these holes grain or acoms may be noticed. I have not 

 been able to ascertain whether these runs are made by the common 

 grey rat or by the water-voles. To decide the question one would 

 have to ferret the holes, and I have been unable to obtain per- 

 mission to do so in the most likely places. 



The difference between the bank -vole and its congener the field- 

 vole (Arvicola agrestis) will be seen from the specimen. The tail 

 of the bank -vole, it will be observed, is longer, and the head less 

 blunt and vole-like, but the latter characteristic, although apparent 



