NOTES AND QUERIES. 23 



The old man told me that he caught a cream-coloured one nearly every year, 

 on one particular part of the estate, in some black peaty soil, which he 

 seemed to think had something to do with the abnormal colour. In 

 resetting his traps he was very particular never to touch the pipe or trap 

 part with his fingers, and used to tell me that the Mole's sense of smell 

 was so keen that should he handle the trap it would not enter it, but 

 at once burrow to one side. — James Sutton (Durham). 



The Bank Vole in Co. Durham.— I am able to state, from practical 

 experience, that the Bank "Vole, Arvicola glareolus, is to be found near this 

 city, and no doubt elsewhere in the county. About a dozen years ago 

 I packed some hundreds of ranunculus roots in a box for safety during the 

 winter, and placed it on a shelf in a sort of storehouse in the garden, and 

 near to an old fence. Happening to look at them during the wiuter, 

 I found that most of them were partly or totally eaten by mice. I blamed 

 the Common Mouse, and at once baited a wire-trap with cheese and placed 

 it near to the box. In a few days, or rather nights, I had secured alive 

 about half a dozen Bank Voles, and I well remember my surprise on seeing 

 the rich rufous-red colour of their fur, so very different to that of the 

 commoner Arvicola agrestis. — James Sutton (Durham). 



Bank Vole in Yorkshire. — As I am not aware whether the occurrence 

 of the Bank Vole, Arvicola glareolus, has previously been noticed in this 

 part of Yorkshire, I forward for your inspection a specimen of what I believe 

 to be that species, and which I found dead upou a footpath cut through 

 furze- and thorn-bushes on the cliffs near Scarborough. Some years ago, 

 before I had any knowledge of the distinction between glareolus and agrestis, 

 I picked up what I took to be a specimen of the latter, but now feel pretty 

 sure it was of the former species, for I remarked the unusually long tail. — 

 R. P. Harper (2, Royal Crescent, Scarboro'). 



[In their 'Handbook of Yorkshire Vertabrata ' (p. 14), Messrs. Clarke 

 and Roebuck characterise the Bank Vole as " reported from a few localities 

 scattered irregularly over the whole county ; probably more general, but 

 not usually distinguished from the common Field Vole." — Ed.] 



Bank Vole in Nottinghamshire.— When out in the country the other 

 day, near Nottingham, I saw a Bank Vole, Arvicola glareolus. These little 

 creatures are not at all common, although rather widely distributed. This 

 is only the second I have been fortunate enough to see ; the other was a 

 tame one kept by Mr. W. Rigby, taxidermist to the Natural History 

 Museum. They make very interesting pets, and attain to better appearance 

 in captivity than when wild. They construct a nest of grass and moss, 

 concealed amidst' dense herbage. Their favourite haunts are old ivy-covered 

 hedge-banks, especially those from which the soil has been washed away in 

 places, leaving hollows behind the roots which have thus become bared; 



