ON THE BANK VOLE. 371 



this pretty little animal, I saw what I have now little doubt 

 was a Bank Vole, climbing about in a whitethorn fence in this 

 parish (Blaxhall), probably in search of haws. (Dormice do 

 not occur here.) Last summer I kept three Bank Voles with a 

 pair of Dormice in a very large bell-glass, having a super- 

 structure of wire -gauze, in which a rough bush was fixed for 

 them to climb about on : this they often made use of, and ran up 

 and down with almost as much agility as their companions ; but 

 they evidently lack the power of jumping long distances from 

 branch to branch, possessed in such perfection by the Squirrels 

 and Dormice. A female killed by a cat, July 4th, 1884, con-- 

 tained five young, which to all appearance would have been 

 born almost immediately ; probably, however, the species breeds 

 much earlier in the year than this, and, like A. agrestis, has 

 several litters during the spring and summer months. According 

 to the writer last quoted, they breed from twice to four times, 

 producing from four to eight in a litter. 



"A word as to traps may be acceptable to some of your 

 readers. I have caught Bank Voles in various kinds of traps, 

 but have found nothing answer better than a larger make of the 

 common (live) mouse-trap with a slanting door. If the usual 

 small-sized penny trap be used, the bait-hook must be shifted 

 one wire farther from the mouth, so as to give greater length to 

 the trap, otherwise the hind-quarters of the captive will be 

 crushed by the falling door; but even with this alteration the 

 trap is not large enough, and it is far better to use a bigger one. 

 There is a useful trap for this purpose in form somewhat hke a 

 toast-rack, with a small wire falling door at each end, the floor 

 being of wood ; one advantage of which is that it may be easily 

 covered up and kept dry and warm, should the night prove wet 

 or frosty ; in which case the little prisoner would (without such 

 protection) almost certainly be found in a few hours dead and 

 stiff. For bait nothing is better than a crust of bread ; a soaked 

 pea or even a bit of cheese will also be found attractive. A very 

 few hemp-seeds scattered about the entrance of the trap serve as 

 a useful ground-bait." 



The figures in the accompanying plate have been drawn 



one (1) by Mr, G. E. Lodge, from a specimen received by Mr. 

 H. A. Macpherson, from Allonby, Cumberland ; the other (2) by 

 Mr. G. Eope, from a living specimen in his collection, captured 

 by him near Blaxhall, in Suffolk. 



