﻿242 
  THE 
  ZOOLOGIST. 
  

  

  in 
  more 
  marked 
  degree 
  than 
  the 
  recently 
  discovered 
  E. 
  skomer- 
  

   ensis, 
  of 
  Skomer, 
  does 
  from 
  the 
  Common 
  Bank-Vole 
  (E. 
  glareo- 
  

   lus) 
  of 
  Britain. 
  Owing 
  to 
  the 
  carelessness 
  of 
  a 
  local 
  taxidermist 
  

   in 
  Perth 
  both 
  these 
  specimens 
  were 
  destroyed, 
  but 
  I 
  had 
  fortu- 
  

   nately 
  made 
  a 
  careful 
  drawing 
  of 
  the 
  black 
  variety 
  in 
  the 
  flesh, 
  

   and 
  I 
  have 
  since 
  obtained 
  and 
  examined 
  a 
  large 
  series 
  of 
  this 
  

   Orcadian 
  Vole. 
  Mr. 
  P. 
  D. 
  Malloch 
  collected 
  five 
  adults 
  for 
  me 
  

   in 
  September, 
  1898, 
  and 
  Mr. 
  Cursiter, 
  of 
  Kirkwall, 
  has 
  sent 
  me 
  

   specimens, 
  living 
  and 
  dead, 
  as 
  I 
  have 
  required 
  them. 
  Most 
  of 
  

   these 
  have 
  been 
  obtained 
  from 
  a 
  large 
  colony 
  in 
  the 
  parish 
  of 
  

   Sandwick, 
  Pomona, 
  where 
  they 
  are 
  especially 
  numerous 
  in 
  the 
  

   grass-fields. 
  

  

  Before 
  passing 
  on 
  to 
  a 
  description 
  of 
  this 
  new 
  Vole, 
  it 
  may 
  

   be 
  as 
  well 
  to 
  say 
  a 
  few 
  words 
  as 
  to 
  its 
  habitat 
  and 
  habits. 
  

   Pomona, 
  the 
  main 
  island 
  of 
  the 
  Orkneys, 
  is 
  a 
  large 
  wind-swept 
  

   island 
  of 
  some 
  twenty-six 
  miles 
  in 
  length, 
  and 
  fourteen 
  broad 
  at 
  

   its 
  greatest 
  breadth. 
  The 
  general 
  aspect 
  of 
  the 
  land 
  consists, 
  

   for 
  the 
  most 
  part, 
  of 
  low 
  rolling 
  hills 
  covered 
  with 
  rocks 
  and 
  

   heather 
  ; 
  whilst 
  the 
  lower 
  slopes 
  and 
  lands 
  adjacent 
  to 
  the 
  sea 
  

   have 
  been 
  reclaimed 
  for 
  the 
  purpose 
  of 
  agriculture, 
  and 
  consist 
  

   chiefly 
  of 
  rushy 
  fields, 
  grass, 
  and 
  clover. 
  For 
  the 
  greater 
  part 
  

   of 
  the 
  year 
  the 
  Orkney 
  Vole 
  inhabits 
  these 
  rough 
  fields, 
  and 
  

   even 
  the 
  part-grass, 
  part-heather 
  uplands, 
  where 
  sheep 
  feed, 
  

   until 
  in 
  the 
  summer 
  and 
  autumn, 
  when 
  they 
  repair 
  to 
  the 
  rich 
  

   grass 
  and 
  clover 
  fields 
  which 
  are 
  under 
  cultivation, 
  doing 
  here 
  

   and 
  there 
  considerable 
  damage 
  to 
  crops. 
  

  

  So 
  far 
  as 
  I 
  can 
  learn, 
  there 
  has 
  never 
  been 
  a 
  plague 
  of 
  these 
  

   Voles 
  in 
  Orkney, 
  nor 
  have 
  they 
  bred 
  to 
  anything 
  like 
  the 
  same 
  

   extent 
  as 
  the 
  hordes 
  that 
  have 
  done 
  so 
  much 
  mischief 
  in 
  the 
  

   south. 
  In 
  fact, 
  the 
  Orcadian 
  Vole 
  seems 
  to 
  be 
  a 
  strictly 
  local 
  

   mammal, 
  and 
  to 
  a 
  large 
  number 
  of 
  the 
  inhabitants 
  it 
  is 
  not 
  

   known 
  at 
  all. 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  neighbourhood 
  of 
  the 
  Loch 
  of 
  Stennis 
  it 
  is 
  fairly 
  

   numerous, 
  and 
  especially 
  so 
  in 
  the 
  parish 
  of 
  Sandwick. 
  I 
  have 
  

   seen 
  the 
  runs 
  of 
  these 
  Voles 
  quite 
  near 
  Kirkwall, 
  and 
  on 
  the 
  

   promontory 
  of 
  the 
  mainland 
  facing 
  the 
  island 
  of 
  Dam 
  say, 
  and 
  in 
  

   several 
  other 
  places. 
  It 
  exists, 
  I 
  believe, 
  in 
  all 
  the 
  islands 
  of 
  

   Orkney 
  where 
  grass 
  and 
  rough 
  fields 
  are 
  to 
  be 
  found, 
  except 
  in 
  

   Hoy, 
  which 
  is 
  doubtless 
  too 
  peaty 
  and 
  rocky. 
  Locally 
  it 
  is 
  

  

  