Red Bank Vole. 329 



if they once get a footing it is difficult to clear them out. 

 In a wood they gnaw the tender shoots as soon as they 

 appear, and even eat off parts of the bark of grown trees, 

 and clear off any tree roots that may lie in the line of their 

 tunnels. When food is scarce they run up trees squirrel- 

 like to nibble at the tenderer bark above. The field vole's 

 winter stock is often partially composed of cherry stones, 

 which it gathers at the points where it finds out that thrushes 

 and blackbirds are apt to drop them, having eaten the fruit 

 they have carried. 



3. The bank vole, or 'red bank-vole (Arvicola glareolus) 

 is not so common as either of the above species. It is 

 redder in the colouring than the water vole or the field vole, 

 and it is longer tailed. It affects old hedge bottoms with 

 tangled undergrowth. It is said to be a slug, worm, and 

 moth eater, though its main staple is admitted to be vege- 

 tables ; and it is generally held to be more carnivorous than 

 either of its relations. It has delicately formed legs and 

 feet, with peculiarly bright eyes. It is not so fertile as the 

 field mole, producing only four or five young ones. But on 

 the point of its food we should not forget the opinion of 

 Mr. Rope, cited at p. 61 (note), that he, having kept this 

 species for long periods in confinement, found they too were 

 vegetable feeders. 



