A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE 



even more litters in a year. The number in 

 the litter has ranged between four and seven. 1 



10. Mole. Talpa europtea, Linn. 



If it were not for the mould excavated in 

 their tunnelling, which breaks the level grass 

 surface of meadows, and that their sharp 

 teeth sever the roots of corn or other crops 

 which they encounter in tunnelling, moles 

 would be unmixed benefactors, both on 

 account of the worms and grubs which they 

 eat and their appetite is far larger in pro- 

 portion to their size than that of (probably) 

 any other mammal except the shrews and 

 also on account of the surface drainage which 

 their long tunnels produce. Moreover the 

 ' hills ' which they throw up, though in the 

 way in mowing grass, form, when spread 

 about, the very best top-dressing. In com- 

 mon with every other animal, they are con- 

 stantly persecuted by man ; but as their 

 natural enemies most of the carnivorous 

 mammals and predaceous birds are so largely 

 extirpated, it may be doubted whether their 

 numbers are much diminishing. The young, 

 about three or four in number, are born in or 

 about April, in hills nearly 2 feet in height, 

 lined with grass, constructed in any quiet 

 place where the grass or other vegetation is 

 long and fairly hides them. What may be 

 considered a favourite site, for instance, is the 

 enclosure round a rick in a corner of a mea- 

 dow, which very likely remains unentered 

 until the rick is cut. The young, when not 

 too small, readily drink cows' milk from a tea- 

 spoon, so could be easily reared. Having 

 captured a mole one hot summer's day, which 

 a friend and I waited for as it seemed to be 

 working its way to the surface, and being 

 close to the Thames, I experimented as to 

 whether these animals can swim, by placing 

 it gently in the water over the side of a boat. 

 It struck out vigorously with its fore-paws, 

 but floated in a nearly upright position, seem- 

 ing not to understand how to maintain a 

 horizontal one by the help of the hind limbs ; 

 and it seemed evident that it could not cross 

 anything wider than a very narrow ditch or 

 brook. My experiment however was possibly 

 not a complete one, as I very shortly rescued 

 my captive from its evidently unsuited element. 

 Mr. John Williams, Treasurer of the Bucks 

 Architectural and Archaeological Society, 

 Aylesbury, has a chocolate coloured mole 

 stuffed, obtained at Broughton about 1884 or 

 1885. CaptainClark Kennedy (Zoologist, 1867) 



1 For this latter number see a letter by Mr. 

 F. H. Parrott of Aylesbury, Zoologist, 1887, 

 p. 424- 



was told of a cream coloured example with 

 pink eyes obtained near Eton (though whether 

 on the Bucks or Berks side of the river is not 

 stated) in the summer of 1865. The late 

 Rev. H. Harpur Crewe mentioned in the 

 Zoologist, 1878, p. 22, a pale orange coloured 

 specimen obtained at Halton about the pre- 

 vious November. 



11. Common Shrew. Sorex araneus, Linn. 



Apparently universally distributed, and 

 probably far more numerous than the number 

 seen (dead and alive) would lead one to sup- 

 pose. Examples vary a good deal in colour 

 and measurements. 



12. Pigmy Shrew. Sorex minutus, Linn. 



Bell Sorex pygmceus. 



I have seen and obtained a few lesser 

 shrews on my land in Hambleden parish, but 

 though the species is undoubtedly to a great 

 extent overlooked, it appears to be much less 

 numerous than the common species. The 

 external differences between the pigmy and 

 an immature common shrew of like size 

 (putting aside the differences in dentition, 

 which cannot be detected in living examples, 

 and hardly in dead specimens without skin- 

 ning them) are well shown in the figures in 

 Bell's second edition, where however these 

 points are not noted under the head of 

 specific characters. The nose of the lesser 

 species is somewhat longer, and more tumid 

 and softer than in the common species, and 

 the tail is thicker. The latter seems also to 

 be more uniformly long than in the common 

 species, in which its length is rather variable. 

 In their normal coloration the two species 

 are, I think, hardly distinguishable, but there 

 appears to be more individual variation in 

 the common species than there is in the 

 pigmy ; though this may be simply due to 

 the want of observation of a larger series of 

 pigmies. Their colour, so far as I have had 

 opportunity of noting, is snuff-brown, shading 

 into brownish gray on the under side. In 

 this respect, Bell's figure is unsatisfactory. 

 Tail covered with hair, corresponding in 

 coloration on its upper and lower sides with 

 the upper and lower sides of the body. 



13. Water Shrew. Neomys fodiens, Pallas. 



Bell Crossopus fodiens. 



I have occasionally met with the water 

 shrew near Great Marlow, though never in 

 the immediate proximity of water. At 

 Poynetts, my present home near Hambleden, 

 I have obtained several examples, and one 

 from a field in Turville half a mile or rather 



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