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upper parts dull greyish-brown; beneath greyish-white ; feet 

 dusky ; first and second upper molar teeth with five prismatic 

 spaces, and the third with six ; in the lower jaw the first molar 

 having nine such spaces, the second five, and the last three. 

 Length of head and body about 3^ to 4^ inches ; of the 

 tail, i}( inch. 



In the allied Microtus arvalis of the Continent, the second 

 upper molar has only four prismatic spaces. 



Distribution. — This species ranges over the greater part of 

 Europe, from Finland in the north to Northern Italy in the 

 south, and from England and Spain in the west to Russia in 

 the east. In the British Islands it extends all over England 

 and Scotland, inclusive of the Hebrides, but it is not found in 

 Lewis, and is unknown in Ireland. While abundant in the 

 more northern districts of the Continent, in the south it is ex- 

 ceeded in numbers by M. aj-valis. 



Habits. — The Field- Vole, or, as it maybe generally termed, the 

 Short-tailed Field-Mouse (in contradistinction to the Wood- 

 Mouse, or Long-tailed Field-Mouse), is the most mischievous of 

 all Rodents to the farmer, from the fact of its occasionally 

 appearing in enormous numbers, as is likewise the case with 

 its continental ally, M. arvalis. An exhaustive account of the 

 habits of the latter has been given by Brehm, and since the two 

 species appear to have somewhat similar modes of life, we can- 

 not do better than quote therefrom. He observes that the food 

 of the Voles " consists of every sort of vegetable substance. 

 When they can obtain seeds, they feed only on these, but at 

 other times they content themselves with fresh grass and herbs, 

 roots and leaves, clover, fruits, and berries. Beech-mdst and 

 nuts, corn, turnips, and potatoes are badly attacked by them. 

 When the corn begins to ripen, they assemble in hordes in the 

 fields, bite the stalks through at the base till they fall over, then 



