118 



KEARTONS' NATURE PICTURES 



KIKI.D VOI.K'S NEST. 



hollow in the ground, but whether any 

 are ever born underground I am not 

 prepared to say. I have certainly found 

 families in subterranean nests, but in all 

 such cases they were able to run about, 

 and had probably gone to earth for pur- 

 poses of safety. 



In favourable circumstances, such as 

 are afforded by a succession of mild, open 

 winters and the comparative absence of 

 their natural enemies in the shape of 

 buzzards, owls, kestrels, stoats, and 



weasels, these rodents will sometimes 

 increase in numbers at an alarming rate. 

 Many instances are upon record of their 

 having assumed the proportions of a 

 serious plague not only on the Continent, 

 but during quite recent times both in 

 England and Scotland. During the 

 autumn of 1856 an area of about twelve 

 thousand acres of land was devastated 

 by these creatures in one part of Ger- 

 many, and a few years later upwards of 

 four hundred thousand were slain in 

 another district in a few weeks. 



Field Voles, although graminivorous, 

 will sometimes eat each other during a 

 scarcity of their natural food. 



I have noticed in Scotland that the 

 young of both the long- and short-eared 

 owls appear to be fed almost entirely 

 upon these creatures. 



This animal is sometimes confused 

 with the Bank Vole, but the two species 

 may readily be distinguished if it is 

 remembered that the latter is chestnut- 

 coloured instead of greyish brown on its 

 upper parts. 



