A HISTORY OF CORNWALL 



30. Harvest Mouse. Mas minutus, Pallas. 



The diminutive size of this mouse causes it to be 

 generally overlooked, and in consequence its distri- 

 bution in the county has not yet been worked out. 

 It is locally not uncommon about Penzance, and has 

 been taken at Hayle ; about Truro and Falmouth it 

 is local, but on the whole common. It has been 

 captured on East Pentire, Newquay, at Bodmin, at 

 St. Neot, and at Launceston. 



31. Water Vole. Microttu amphibius, Linn. 



Bell Arvicola amphibius. 



Common in almost all suitable habitats throughout 

 the county. 



32. Field Vole. Microtus agrestis, Linn. 



Bell Arvicola agrestis. 

 Abundant, especially in low-lying moist grass-land. 



33. Bank Vole. Evotomys glareohs, Schreber. 



Bell Arvicola glareolus. 



This vole does not appear to be plentiful anywhere 

 in the county, but occurs sparingly near Constantine 

 and about Budock, Falmouth, at Pencalenick, and was 

 once taken about five years ago just beyond the Viaduct 

 towards Idless, Truro. One was killed in the Res- 

 tormel Valley in May, 1 90 1 , and it has been recorded 

 from between Altarnun and Launceston, from near 

 Liskeard and from Trerice, Newquay. As old ivy- 

 covered Cornish hedgebanks form an ideal habitat for 

 this vole, it is probable that it is generally distributed 

 throughout the county. 



34. Common Hare. Lefus eunpaeus, Pallas. 



Bell Lepus timidus. 



Formerly common over the greater part of Corn- 

 wall, but now locally somewhat scarce in the southern 

 half of the county. 



35. Rabbit. Lepus cun'tculus, Linn. 

 Abundant almost everywhere. 



UNGULATA 

 [Red Deer. Cervus elaphus, Linn. 



Within modern times there have been no resident 

 wild red deer in the county, but the following account 

 of a stray stag from Devonshire by Mr. W. T. Hancock 

 in The Journal of the Royal Institution of Cornwall, vii, 

 is of considerable interest: 'Since August, 1879, a 

 wild red stag with a huge pair of horns has been seen 

 in the Hendergrove and Trengall woods, but has 

 eluded all efforts to capture him. When chased he 

 invariably took the hedge. Some three months since 

 he strayed to North Hill, and thence to Sibblyback, 

 where he fed and ran with the colts.' 



As the fallow deer in the county are scarcely in a 

 semi-feral condition, Cervus dama cannot be claimed 

 as one of the Cornish mammals.] 



CETACEA 



36. Common Rorqual. Balaenoptera musculus, Linn. 

 Specimens of whales are occasionally seen off the 



Cornish coast, and are usually referred to this species. 

 Couch says : ' Specimens of the Razorback are seen 

 every year feeding upon the smaller gregarious fishes.' 

 In 1831 a specimen was washed ashore at Plymouth 

 that had been noticed off the Cornish coast for some 

 time previous. In 1850 Mr. Hamilton James saw a 

 baby rorqual 146. long, 7 ft. 8 in. in girth, and weigh- 

 ing just a ton, that had been captured at Polperro. In 



1863 a specimen was cast up near the breakwater at 

 Falmouth, the skeleton of which was sent to the 

 Alexandra Palace, Muswell Hill. In 1875 one was 

 found dead about nine miles from land and towed 

 into a cove west of Mevagissey. It was 62 ft. in 

 length and 36ft. in girth, the tail was 13^ ft. broad 

 and the pectoral fin 8^ ft., the jaws 1 5 ft. in length 

 and furnished with 350 plates of whalebone on each 

 side. In October, 1880, after an unusually violent 

 storm, a humerus 20 in. long, 39 in. in greatest 

 circumference, and weighing 5 3 Ib. was found on the 

 beach at Port Holland. In May, 1843, a very 

 large specimen was towed ashore at Newquay. 



There is, of course, the risk that in one or two of 

 the above records the identification was assumed 

 rather than determined. 



37. Sibbald's Rorqual. Balaenoptera sibbaldi, Bell. 

 Dr. Bullmore records one washed ashore at Cadgwith, 



near the Lizard, 65 ft. in length, 24 ft. in circum- 

 ference, with a caudal fin 1 3 ft. broad. 



38. Beaked Whale. Hyperoodon rostrata, Chem. 



Dr. Bullmore records one which was brought into 

 Polperro by the mackerel boats in May, 1850. 



[Sperm Whale. Physeter macrocephalus, Linn. 



Couch says that a whale, supposed to be of this 

 species, is sometimes seen off the Cornish coasts sailing 

 rapidly along at a uniform elevation in the water with 

 its slender but elevated fin above surface and its body 

 concealed below.] 



[Humped Blower. Physeter polycyphus, Jen. 



Of this form Couch says: 'One specimen ran 

 itself ashore in pursuit of small fish several years since, 

 and another was seen and minutely described to me 

 by an intelligent fisherman.'] 



39. Grampus. Orca gladiator, Lacepede. 

 Frequently seen and occasionally captured along 



the south coast ; has been recorded from Padstow. 



40. Risso's Grampus. Grampus griseus, Cuv. 



A beautiful adult female I o ft. 6 in. long, was 

 caught in the mackerel nets off the Eddystone, 

 28 February, 1870, and is now in the British 

 Museum. 



41. Pilot or Ca'ing Whale. 

 Traill. 



Globicephalus melas, 



One was brought into Plymouth in April, 1839, 

 and Matthias Dunn identified one that came ashore 

 near Gorran in or about 1874. 



42. Porpoise. Phocaena communis, Cuvier. 



This, the sniffer of the Cornish fisherman, is com- 

 mon along the south coast, and frequently recorded 

 from the north. It is sometimes caught in drift nets, 

 and occasionally takes bait. It now and then passes 

 up the tidal rivers to a considerable distance, and one 

 6 ft. long and 122 Ib. in weight was found dead on 

 mud at Newham Cove, just below Lostwithiel Moors, 

 in February, 1903. 



43. Dolphin. Delpbinus delphii, Linn. 



This is not uncommon along the south coast, and 

 large shoals now and then visit Mount's Bay in sum- 

 mer. It is often observed in Falmouth Harbour. In 

 October, 1891, one 6 feet long was washed ashore in 

 a dying condition near Falmouth Hotel. It has been 

 recorded from St. Ives Bay and off Newquay. 



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