THE CAMPAGNOL. 563 
T shot a Water Vole as it was sitting upon a water-lily leaf and engaged in eating the 
green seeds; and on noticing the ‘kind of diet on which the animal was fe eding, I 
determined to watch the little creatures with more care. My own testimony coincides 
precisely with those of other observers, for I never yet saw the true snub-nosed, short- 
eared, yellow-toothed Vole engaged in eating animal food, although the brown Rat may be 
often detected in such an act, 
Many communications have been made to me on the subject, written for the most part 
by persons who have seen water-side Rats engaged in catching and eating fish, and have 
thought that the delinquents were the true Water Vole. Indeed, the Vole is allied very 
closely to the beaver, and partakes of the vegetarian character of that animal. : 
However guiltless the Water Vole may be of piscicapture, it is not altogether a 
harmless animal, for, independently of weakening the banks by its tunnels, it will 
sometimes leave the water-side and travel some little distance across the country in 
search of cultivated vegetables. One of these animals has been seen to cross a large field 
and enter a garden in which some French beans were growing. The Vole crept up the 
bean-stalks, and after cutting off several of the pods with its sharp and scissor-like teeth, 
picked them up and retraced its steps to its home. 
The colour of the Water Vole is a chestnut-brown, dashed with grey on the upper parts 
and fading to grey below. The ears are so short that they are hardly perceptib le above the 
fur. The incisor teeth are of a light yellow, and are very thick and strong. The tail is 
shorter than that of the common Rat, hardly exceeding half the leneth of the head and 
body. The average length of a full-crow n Water Vole is thirteen inches, the tail being 
about four inches and three- -quarters long. It is not so prolific an animal as the brown 
Rat, breeding only twice in the year, and producing from five to six young at a birth. 
THE CAMPAGNOL, or SHORT-TAILED Fir~p Movusg, is even more destructive in the 
open meadows than the common erey mouse in the barns or ricks; fer not contenting 
itself with plundering the ripened ‘ 
crops of autumn, it burrows be- 
neath the ground at sowing time, 
and devours the seed-wheat which 
has just been laid in the earth. 
Besides these open-air depreda- 
tions, it make inroads into ricks 
and barns, and by dint of multi- 
tudinous numbers does very great 
harm. As its food is entirely of 
a vegetable nature, it does not 
enter human habitations, where 
it would find but a poor chance 
of a livelihood. 
The colour of the Campagnol 
is ruddy brown on the upper sur- 
face of the body, and grey on the 
abdomen and chest. The ears are 
rounded and very small, closely 
resembling those of the water 
vole. The tail is only one-third 
the length of the body, and the 
total length of the animal is rather 
more than five inches. As it belongs to the same genus as the water vole, and is very 
closely related to that animal, it sometimes goes by the name of Field Vole. 
It is a very prolific animal, and its numbers are almost incredibly great in districts 
where no means have been taken for its destruction. Even in well-cultivated fields, 
whether of grass or corn, the Campagnol may be found in vast quantities by any one 
whose eyes are sufficiently accustomed to the task to distinguish the little creature from 
00 2 
CAMPAGNOL.—<Arvicola arvalis. 
