46 THE BRITISH NATURE BOOK 



In the spring field voles will do untold mischief by gnawing the bark of 

 young trees. I have seen a small copse devastated in this manner, the trees 

 having beeri killed by the removal of the bark in a perfect ring at their bases. 

 They will destroy turf thereby starving the sheep ; they will strip the heather 

 of its young shoots. In one place in Germany 1,500,000 of these pests were 

 caught in fourteen days. 



It is of interest to note the one occasion when they served a nation's turn. 

 According to Herodotus, the destruction of Sennacherib's host (2 Kings xix.) 

 was the result of the invasion of a plague of field mice into the camp, which 

 gnawed the bowstrings of the Assyrians, rendering them useless. Another 

 reference, in i Sam. vi., points to the " golden mice " models of " your mice 

 that mar the land " as offerings to Israel's God from the Philistines, in con- 

 sequence of the havoc wrought by field mice and the famine and pestilence 

 which ensued. In ancient Egypt the mouse was the symbol of pestilence. 



The Irish may well be thankful for this, among other small mercies that 

 the Field Mouse is unknown in Erin ! 



13. The Bank Vole (Arvicolus glareolus) sometimes called the WOOD 

 VOLE) is chestnut-red in colour in the upper parts, its chief point of dis- 

 tinction from the Field Vole ; in habits it is similar to the others, except that 

 it is found in woods and forests much more than in open fields. It is even more 

 destructive to young trees, devouring bark, buds, and tender shoots, and wreaks 

 havoc in the garden. 



Order : UNGULATA (" Hoofed Mammals ") Deer, Wild Cattle, Sheep, 



and Goats. 



i. The Eoe Deer (Cafireolus caprcea). This animal is some 26 inches in 

 height at the withers that is, where the shoulder bones meet at the top of the 

 back and in summer is foxy-red in colour. In winter, when the fur is much 

 thicker and coarser, it appears a dark brownish grey. It possesses a very 

 distinctive mark in its black-and-white muzzle and mouth, the colouring of 

 which adds materially to the pretty appearance of this deer. 



It was once common in England, and there are still a few said to be living 

 in Cumberland, the descendants of the old English stock ; but those that are 

 found in parks to-day have been reintroduced, since the beginning of the 

 nineteenth century, from abroad. In Scotland, however, they are still native 

 in the Highlands. 



The horns of the male are shed in December, and the new antlers are nearly 

 perfect by the end of February. Fawns are born in June. 



The Roe Deer are monogamous an unusual feature among deer, where 

 generally one stag has several hinds. 



The male utters a cry like a dog's bark or yelp ; the female has a softer cry, 

 seldom uttered except in the breeding season. At this season the males are 

 very savage and dangerous. 



