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materials of which It is composed are so loosely interwoven that it is easy for 

 the animal to push its way thi-ough any part of the sides ; and for the same 

 reason the nest is very expansive, and probably is made at first much smaller 

 than it ultimately becomes by the pressure and growth of the young mice 

 deposited therein. 



The foregoing animals just described belong to the genua Mus, but I now 

 go on to notice two animals which have been placed by zoologists in another 

 genus called Arvicola, and which are known by the name of Voles. There 

 are two species, the water vole and the field vole. The water vole is very 

 like the rat in general appearance, and is often mistaken for it. It is of a 

 chestnut brown colour on the upper parts of the body, fading to gray below. 

 The tail is shorter relatively to the body than in the rat ; and the ears of the 

 vole are very short indeed, and hardly visible. The incisor teeth are of a 

 yellow hue, and are very thick and strong. The habitat of the water vole is 

 always by the banks of ponds and streams ; it is a first-rate swimmer and 

 diver, and its food is af^uatic plants, especially the mare's tail, or " Equisetum." 

 It is not, like the rat, carnivorous. It makes tunnels in the banks of pools, 

 and often causes mischief from making passages where the water can escape. 

 It has considerable affinity to the beaver in habits. The field vole, or cam- 

 pagnol, or field mouse, is a little animal, allied to the water vole in structure, 

 and about the size of a common mouse. It is of a ruddy brown colour, with 

 very short ears, and a tail only one-third the length of the body. It lives on 

 grain and seeds of various descriptions, is very prolific, and burrows in the 

 soil. It is fond of water, and usually frequents moist ground. It is some- 

 times very destructive in nibbling the roots and bark of tender and newly 

 planted trees and shrubs. 



Hare. — Passing on "now to the family of Leporidae, we find in this 

 country two species, the hare and the rabbit, both of which animals are so well 

 known with respect to their external form, that it will be quite unnecessary to 

 give a detailed account of their appearance. I may, however, mention that the 

 distinctive peculiarity of the genus Lepus consists in their having, besides the 

 two large and ordinary incisor teeth in the upper jaw, two smaller ones placed 

 immediately behind them ; it is not very clear what use these smaller teeth 

 are to this family of Rodents. These animals are all swift of foot, and retreat 

 very quickly when disturbed. The common hare, although its trivial scientific 

 name is timidus, is said on occasions to display considerable courage. From 

 the much greater length of the hind limbs than the fore Ln the hare, its gait 

 is more a series of jumps than an even gallop. Hares and rabbits differ in 

 their habits, the former never burrowing below ground like the latter. 

 They are both prolific animals, the rabbit however by far the most so. 

 They are easily tamed, and domestication has produced many varieties 

 of the rabbit. There are several foreign species of the genus Lepus, and in 

 Ireland a species or variety of hare is found called Lepus hibernicus. This 

 is supposed to be the same animal as the Alpine hare. It is perhaps needless 



