GNAWING ANlMAFiS— RODENTS 149 



All perished save one. For the account of the fatal 

 consequences which befell the townspeople who 

 failed to complete their bargain with the Piper I 

 would refer you to the poem. 



The Watee Vole. 



This is the largest of the English voles, and is 

 often called the water rat. The want of observation 

 that prevails causes people to confuse this harmless 

 animal with the brown rat, which often lives by the 

 waterside and in damp ditches. 



The water vole measures eight and a quarter 

 inches from the tip of the nose to the root of the 

 tail, and the tail is usually about half this length. 

 The head is short and broad, and the fur is thick 

 and long', and has a greyish-brown appearance. 

 The shorter hairs are grey on the upper parts and 

 brown on the lower parts ; the longer hairs are all 

 sandy brown. The hairs on the tail are black and 

 sometimes there is a white tip. The ears are short 

 and round, and naked internally. An operculum 

 closes the aperture of the internal ear. The toes 

 are naked and are not webbed. The incisor teeth 

 are brownish yellow, and the claws are yellow with 

 purple lines above. There are two musk-glands 

 situated immediately in front of the hind legs. 

 These glands are peculiar to the sub-genus (Arvi- 

 cola) to which the water vole belongs. They are 

 oval in shape, with their long axes lying along the 

 body. 



The water vole is widely distributed both in the 



