A HISTORY OF SUFFOLK 



numbers are sometimes found congregated 

 together in the lower part of the stack. After 

 the corn is gone, they often remain throughout 

 the winter in the straw left on the spot. On 

 one occasion a pair were observed by Mr. 

 Moor in a stack of tares. The writer has 

 seen the nest of this little animal built in tall 

 reed-like grass, in the midst of a thin white- 

 thorn hedge beside a ditch at Snape ; among 

 straggling blackthorn bushes in a similar sit- 

 uation at Leiston, and in a plant of the com- 

 mon broom at Washbrook. A nest built 

 among standing barley was presented by Mr. 

 E. C. Moor to the Ipswich Museum. 

 90. Water Vole. Microtm amphibius, Linn. 

 Bell — Jrcicola omphlb'm. 

 Common in suitable situations in most 

 parts of the county. From its inoffensive 

 habits it is less persecuted by man than most 

 of our British rodents, and the presence of 

 this busy little creature gives an additional 

 interest to most rivers, streams and ponds. It 

 is less shy than many animals, and as its range 

 of vision seems to be rather limited, it can by 

 careful stalking be very closely approached, 

 especially when feeding. The Rev. F.C.K. 

 Jourdain has observed that the water vole is 

 very rarely preyed upon by owls, though our 

 two smaller voles are often devoured by these 

 birds. The writer has more than once seen 

 it feeding on the leaves of the common blue 

 forget-me-not. 



The black variety of this animal, common 

 in some parts of Scotland, and also found in 

 Norfolk and Cambridgeshire, occurs in a few 

 districts. Professor Newton has reported it 

 to be common in the neighbourhood of Thet- 

 ford on the Norfolk boundary,' and the Rev. 

 J. G. Tuck in February 1898 received a 

 good specimen of this variety, in the flesh, 

 killed at the stables of Hopton Rectory, about 

 a mile from the Little Ouse.» The specimen 

 is still in his possession. Mr. H. Lingwood, 

 in a letter to the writer, states that he 

 has not unfrequently seen the black variety 

 of the water vole in the river Gipping, near 

 his house, at Needham Market. A specimen 

 about the colour of M. decumanus, but having 

 a pinkish tinge, was seen some years ago by 

 Mr. A. M. Rope near Leiston. 

 31. Field Vole. Mkrotus agrestisy Linn. 

 Bell — Arvicola agreslis. 

 Local name, 'Meadow Mouse.' About 

 Thetford it is called the ' Bog Mouse.' ' Very 



» yf History oj British ^druptds, Thos. Bell, 

 F.Z.S., ed. 2 (1874), p. 3"- 

 ' Zookgisl, 1898, p. 122. 

 ' W. G. Clarke in litt. 



common in meadows and marshy ground, but 

 from its protective colouring, and burrowing 

 and tunnelling habits, it usually attracts little 

 notice. On the salt marshes near the coast, 

 and the river walls, it abounds and grows to a 

 large size. It also makes its appearance on 

 arable land when cropped with clover, lucerne 

 and other forage plants. It is very prolific, 

 and continues breeding through more than 

 half the year. In Suffolk the writer has found 

 nests of the field vole containing young, some- 

 times as many as ten in one litter, from 9 

 March till 13 October. Some of the earlier 

 of these contain fur, plucked from rabbits or 

 any other dead animals available ; that of its 

 own species being sometimes used for this 

 purpose. In cutting grass, these nests, built 

 on the surface of the ground, generally in 

 some slight depression, not unfrequently get 

 entangled among the knives of the mowing 

 machine and impede its progress. This little 

 animal takes the water quite readily. If sur- 

 prised at the water's edge, it swims out boldly 

 like a miniature water vole, and can easily 

 cross most ditches, but if the width is too 

 great for its liking it soon turns back. The 

 writer once saw a rather small field vole cross 

 the river Aide, against a strong current, at a 

 spot where it is between 30 and 40 feet wide 

 (measured). This species is sometimes found 

 on the sea shore at low tide, close to the surf, 

 apparently searching for animal food among 

 the seaweed. The writer once surprised one 

 of these voles, thus engaged, on the sand 

 under the cliff at Ikcn, at the brink of the 

 water. It at once swam straight out from the 

 shore, but soon returned. In November 1872 

 an albino field vole was caught alive at East 

 Bergholt and brought to Mr. W. S. Calvert 

 of that place, who recorded the occurrence in 

 the Field of 30 November 1872. 



A perfectly black female suckling a litter 

 of young ones of the normal colour was cap- 

 tured in a clover field at Blaxhall on 25 June 

 1886. Its fur was of a rich shining black, 

 long and abundant. This specimen is now 

 in the Ipswich Museum. In an adjoining 

 pea-field, a second black female was caught 

 alive on 7 August in the same year, and was 

 sent to the Zoological Gardens, Regent's 

 Park. This species is much sought after by 

 weasels, kestrels and owls, the short-eared or 

 woodcock owl in particular. 

 32. Bank Vole. Evotomys glareolus, Schreber. 

 Bell — Arvicola glareolus. 

 This pretty little animal is common in 

 many parts of the county, and is probably 

 much more generally distributed than is often 

 supposed, frequenting old rough banks, woods, 



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