322 



ARVICOLID.E. 



Transactions of the Wernerian Society of Edinburgh, 

 under the name of Arvicola ater. According to that 

 gentleman's account, it is exceedingly common in the 

 counties of Banff and Aberdeen; and it is said that the 

 common Water Vole is not found where this one abounds. 

 Its habits are similar to those of the former. It is of a 

 deep black colour above, and black with a greyish tinge 

 beneath, and it is smaller than the brown one ; but the 

 proportions are not conspicuously, if at all, different. 

 This black variety is common in many parts of Scotland, 

 and Mr. Jenyns states that it "is not uncommon in the 

 fens of Cambridgeshire, and differs in no respect from 

 the other but in colour." We are informed by our friend 

 Professor Newton, that it is common in the neighbour- 

 hood of Thetford in Norfolk, and it has been met with in 

 several other parts of England. 



