458 THE WATER VOLE. 



Before closing this account of the common Mouse, a few words are due to the " Singing 

 Mice," concerning whose musical accomplishments the scientific world is rather at issue, some 

 persons thinking the song to be nothing more than a symptom of bronchitis, and others believ- 

 ing it to be voluntarily produced by the imitative powers of the performers. 



I may give a curious instance of ' ' singing ' ' which favors the former of these suppositions. 

 A Mouse had been caught in a trap with weak springs, and being half choked by the wire 

 pressing on its neck, gave vent to a twittering or chirruping not unlike that of a small bird. 

 Other naturalists, however, who have met with examples of singing Mice, seem rather to 

 incline to the opinion that the musical sound is produced by healthy animals, and is not owing 

 to disease. A very interesting letter on this subject has been sent to me by the Rev. R. L. 

 Bampfield, and seems also to favor the latter supposition. By the kind permission of the 

 writer, I am enabled to present the account to the reader, and will leave him to come to his 

 own conclusions on the subject. 



" In a former residence of mine, some Mice took up their abode behind the wainscot in the 

 kitchen. From motives which few housekeepers would appreciate, we allowed them to remain 

 undisturbed ; and most merry, cheerful little creatures they were. 



" It seemed to us that a young brood was being carefully educated ; but they did not learn 

 all their accomplishments from their parents. In the kitchen hung a good singing canary, and 

 we observed that by degrees the chirp of the Mice changed into an exact imitation of the canary's 

 song ; at least it was so with one, for though several attempted it, one considerably excelled the 

 rest. I am not sure that admiration of the music influenced them, for from the funny facetious 

 way in which it was done, I should rather say it was out of mockery, or at least from a love of 

 imitation. Yet the result was very pleasing; far inferior to the canary's note in volume, 

 strength, and sweetness, it was, perhaps, superior to it in softness and delicacy. 



' ' Often have I listened to it with pleasure in the evening, when the canary was asleep 

 with its head beneath its wing ; and more than once have I observed a kitchen-guest glance 

 at the canary, then look round in some astonishment and say, ' Is that a bird, sir, singing ? ' 

 One trustworthy person assured me that he too had had in his house a similar ' Singing 

 Mouse.' I have, therefore, little doubt that if a young family of Mice were brought up from 

 the first close to a canary or some other songster, some of them would learn to sing." 



I have also been favored with an account of a young singing rat, which endeavored to 

 imitate the sounds produced by a piping-bullfinch and an ordinary goldfinch. In the first, 

 the creature entirely failed, but was tolerably successful in its imitation of the mild notes 

 of the goldfinch. The same animal would begin to sing if a melody were played in the 

 minor key, but would give no response to the major. The fondness of Mice for music is 

 already well known, and may afford some clue to their sensitiveness of ear. I believe, by 

 the way, that the untaught cries of all the lower animals, whether they be quadrupeds or 

 birds, are in the minor key. 



There are many animals which have been saddled with a bad reputation merely on 

 account of an unfortunate resemblance to another animal of really evil character. Among 

 these misused innocents the Water Vole is very conspicuous, as the poor creature has been 

 commonly supposed to be guilty of various poaching exploits which were really achieved by 

 the ordinary brown Rat. 



It is quite true that Rats are often seen on the river-banks in the act of eating captured 

 fish, but these culprits are only the brown Rats which have migrated from the farm-yards for 

 the summer months, and intend to return as soon as autumn sets in. The food of the true 

 Water Rat, or Water Vole, as it is more correctly named, is chiefly of a vegetable nature, and 

 consists almost entirely of various aquatic plants and roots. The common "mare's-tail," or 

 equisetum, is a favorite article of diet with the Water Vole, and I have often seen it feeding 

 on the bark of the common rush. Many years ago I shot a Water Vole as it was sitting upon 

 a water-lily leaf and engaged in eating the green seeds ; and on noticing the kind of diet on 

 which the animal was feeding, I determined to watch the little creatures with more care. My 

 own testimony coincides precisely with those of other observers, for I never yet saw the true 



