The Plague of Field Mice, by Sir Walter Elliot. 461 



The opportune arrival of these useful auxiliaries must be 

 accounted for by the same elemental conditions that promoted the 

 increase of the voles, for it was not merely at the places where 

 the latter appeared in such swarms, that their advent was ob- 

 served. It was noticed all over England.* 



It is difficult to estimate the cost of the injury done to the 

 farms which suffered most, because it must be viewed under so 

 many aspects. Thus, besides the loss of animals by death, 

 allowance must be made for the impaired condition of the sur- 

 vivors, the diminished sale of lambs, draft ewes, and wool, the 

 inadequacy of the rising stock to keep up the hirsel to its full- 

 producing strength, &c. 



1875-6. 



December, 1875. Temp. l°.l above the average. Frost only from the 2nd 

 to the 8th, the temperature falling on one occasion to 18°. Rainfall heavy 

 from the 18th to the 25th, amounting in those days to 2.11 inches. 



January, 1876. Temp. 3 Q 9 above the average. The thermometer fell to 

 15° on the 9th, but there was no continued frost. Eainfall small. 



February. Temp. 0°3 below the average. Frost rather sharp from the 9th 

 to the 14th, and rainfall heavy at the beginning and end of the month. 

 Much snow fell from the 2nd to the 15th ; from 19th to 21st ; and on the 

 24th and 25th but did not lie. 



March. Temp. '2°. 3 below the average. Snow fell generally in the south 

 from the 6th to the 22nd. 



April. Temp l°.l below the average. Snow fell from the 10th to the 13th 

 with very severe frost. Thermometer ranging from 15° to 18°. 



* The frequent capture of the rough-legged buzzard in 1877, has already 

 been noticed (The Field, vols, xlvi., 504 ; xlvii., 158, 388 ; xlviii., 747 ; xlix., 

 488, &c. Club's Proceedings, vol vii , 463, 510, and 524 ; vol viii., 111. 139, 

 142, 155, 178, 190, 353). 



Owls, too, were far more common than usual. The short- eared species 

 in particular, made its appearance in unusually large numbers. A cor- 

 respondent of The Held states that nights of them appeared during the 

 month of October, 1877, and on one day, the 17th, he saw them " perched on 

 the rocks at low water, as many as ten at once, having just arrived, and rest- 

 ing before making inland." Vol. xlix., 12, 44, &c. 



Professor Newton writes, that in several recorded instances o f the undue 

 increase of small rodents which he narrates, ' ' owls are mentioned as throng- 

 ing to the spot, and rendering the greatest service in extirpating the pests ; 

 ***** and it would appear that the short -eared owl is the species which 

 plays a principal part in getting rid of the destructive horde. An additional 

 fact of some interest was noticed by Wolley, namely, that under such cir- 

 cumstances the owls seem to become more prolific than usual," and he refers 

 to instances of as many as 7 or even 10 or 12 eggs being laid in one nest. 

 Yarrell's British Birds, by Alfred Newton, i., 163 (1872). 



