BRITISH ARYICOL^E, OR VOLES. 



THE WATER-RAT. 



THREE tolerably distinct species of these little 

 animals have, for some time past, been known to 

 naturalists ; but the actual specific distinctions be- 

 tween the kinds, and the variations in the colour 

 of the fur they assume in various localities, have 

 never yet been clearly and accurately determined. 

 The voles are small rodent quadrupeds, nearly allied 

 to the true Muridce, but differing from them in 

 having the head larger and rounder in proportion 

 to their size, the ears being almost hidden in the 

 fur, the tail being also shorter, and in the aquatic 

 species slightly flattened at the sides. Of our 

 British species the water-vole (Arvicola amphibia), 

 commonly known as the water-rat, is the largest, 

 equalling the common brown rat (Mus decumanus) 

 in size. 



The fur is reddish-brown above, shading into 

 pinkish- white beneath, and consists of a soft woolly 

 undercoat, well fitted to resist the water, in which 



