448 The Plague of Field Mice, by Sir Walter Elliot. 



ears, and the tail shorter than the body, whence they are often 

 called short-tailed mice. The molars, or back-teeth, have flat 

 crowns, with transverse ridges of enamel, adapted for grinding 

 the vegetable matter on which they feed, whereas in true mice 

 they are covered with points or tubercles suitable for an omni- 

 vorous diet. 



It was the last-mentioned, or field vole, that made its 

 presence -so conspicuously felt, and caused so much damage to 

 the higher lying sheep-farms along many parts of che Borders, 

 in the winter and spring of 1875-6. They had been observed to 

 be more numerous than usual during the three or four previous 

 seasons, but not to the extent of causing serious inconvenience. 

 In the spring of 1876, however, their numbers became alarm- 

 ing. The districts most seriously affected were the hill farms, 

 on the borders of Roxburghshire, Selkirkshire, and Dumfries- 

 shire, especially those contiguous to the watershed, between 

 Teviotdale, Eskdale, and Liddesdale. Further west the higher 

 portions of Upper Nithsdale suffered seriously, though in a less 

 degree. No complaints were heard from Northumberland, or 

 the sheep-walks to the eastward along the Cheviot range, but in 

 many places they were observed to be more numerous than usual. 

 The same may be said of the Cumberland and Westmoreland 

 sheep-farms, and of those in North Wales, but in parts of the 

 West Eiding, as in Wensleydale and Bedale,* they were found 

 to be troublesome. Small communities were met with here and 

 there, in unwonted spots, during the summer and autumn 

 months of 1875-6-7, where the luxuriant pasturage afforded a 

 temporary retreat. But they may be said to be distributed more 

 or less sparingly at all seasons, over the whole island wherever 

 food and cover are suitable, and to occur at all elevations. Dr 

 Buchanan White found traces of them on Ben-na-Mhuic-dhu, at 

 nearly 4,0 00 feet, and picked up a dead one on another hill, at 

 2,700 feet, which, from its position, had apparently been brought 

 down from a higher altitude by water. 



Their favourite haunts are low-lying moist grass-lands and 

 damp plantations, especially when young. In such spots, and 

 more frequently in the former, they live in communities, forming 

 numerous burrows at no great depth, each pair having their own 

 dwelling, in which they bring up their young, and deposit their 

 * The Field, vol. xvii., p. 729, and M.S. 



