THE COMMON MOLE, MOLDWARP OR WANT ii 



Zoologist, 1868, 1 1 86; Prior, Journ. cit., 1^77, 225-226); one had a 

 white head (W. Evans) ; in another the nose and tail were tipped 

 with white, and there was a white breast-spot (Forrest) ; while J. 

 Whitaker has figured one which was largely cream colour with dark 

 underside and head, the lines of demarcation being of irregular course 

 {Scribblings of a Hedgerow Naturalist, 1904, 238). 



Class 3 — Ash, or mouse-coloured, silvery-grey, and bluish-lead speci- 

 mens are occasionally met with, but are not common (see Tomes, Vict, 

 Co. Hist., Worcestershire, 174; Larken, Zoologist, 1890, 97-98; Crewe, 

 Field, 25th February 1893, 296; Service, Ann. Scott. Nat. Hist., 1908, 

 117). Adams writes me that he possesses an ash-coloured specimen 

 caught at Penistone, Yorkshire, and W. Evans reports a fawn-coloured 

 one taken at Gullane, Haddington, in November 1910, also a beautiful 

 silvery-grey variety taken near Edinburgh in February 191 1 {in lit.). 



The sex of animals varying in colour is seldom given by recorders, 

 and even when stated is not always reliable, field naturalists being fre- 

 quently in error in judging the sex of moles. Service, however, states 

 that in cream-coloured specimens the female is always lighter than the 

 male {Zoologist, 1893, 425). This writer's articles on variation may be 

 consulted for further information, as may be Harting, Field, 19th July 

 1902, 141. 



The Common Mole seems to be very free from geographical 

 variation, but Matschie {Sitzungs-Berichte der Gesellschaft Naturfor- 

 schender Freunde (Berlin), 1901, 9, 229) suggests that the Roumanian 

 form differs from that of central Germany ; and Rollinat and Trouessart 

 {Comptes rendus Soc. Biol. (Paris), 15th December 1906, 602) state that 

 in France, towards the southern limit of its range, the degree of develop- 

 ment of the eye is variable, and that frequently no external eye is 

 visible. They conclude that the disappearance of the eyes has taken 

 place recently, and that it is connected with the stronger light of the 

 south. Satunin has described a subspecies, T. e. brauneri, from south 

 Russia, but I have not been able to examine it. 



William Evans believes that individuals inhabiting the upland 

 districts of the Edinburgh district are on the average rather larger 

 than those of the lowlands. 



DIMENSIONS IN MILLIMETRES. 



The above dimensions are taken from the labels, and rest on the 



