MOUSE : WATER-VOLE. 75 



less of a dingy hue from the dirt of buildings, and 

 the nature of the recesses they frequent. To see 

 these colours in perfection, we should have recourse 

 to the mice found in stacks, which are often so re- 

 markable for their bright yellow tinge, that I once 

 thought they might prove to be a distinct species. 

 This is due to an annulus of yellow surrounding each 

 hair on the upper parts a little below the extreme 

 tip, which in the domestic mouse is rarely no- 

 ticeable. 



It is also worthy of remark, that the mice found 

 in stacks, except where there are many together, 

 have comparatively little of that peculiar disagree- 

 able smell, which is so characteristic of the com- 

 mon house mouse, and which is probably occa- 

 sioned by its feeding upon animal and other impure 

 substances. 



WATER-VOLE. * 



Aug. 31, 1829. THE water-vole, or water-rat, as 

 it is more commonly called here, is so extremely shy 

 an animal, plunging into the water at the first alarm, 

 that it is not very easy to watch its habits. To-day, 

 however, I had an opportunity of noticing one for 

 some time, unobserved myself, It was busied in 

 eating the tender grasses and other plants which 

 grew on the brink of the stream ; in some cases pull- 

 ing them up by the roots and devouring them entire, 

 in others contenting itself with merely cropping the 

 blade and uppermost shoots. In two instances I saw 



* Arvicola arnphibius, Desm . 



E 2 



