THE VOLES. 



157 



trouble to reckon up the number of generations | joke, 

 possible durfhg the 

 summer months, 

 from April to Octo- 

 ber, one will get some 

 idea of the almost 

 fabulous rate of mul- 

 tiplication of these 

 little creatures. 



They next went 



[In South Africa Liv- 

 ingstone met with a 

 species of " rats, or 

 rather large mice, close- 

 ly resembling Mus pu- 

 milio (Smith)," which 

 he says are "quite fa- 

 cetious, and, having a 

 great deal of fun in 

 them, often laugh heart- 

 ily. Again and again 

 they woke us up by 

 scampering over our 

 faces, and then bursting 



into a loud laugh of He! he! he! at having per 

 formed the feat. Their 

 sense of the ludicrous 

 appears to be exquisite; 

 they screamed with 

 laughter at the attempts 

 which disturbed and 

 angry human nature 

 made in the dark to 

 bring their ill-timed mer- 

 riment to a close. Un 

 like their prudent Euro- 

 pean cousins, which are 

 said to leave a sinking 

 ship, a part of these took 

 up their quarters in our 

 leaky and sinking vessel. 

 Quiet and invisible by 

 day, they emerged at 

 night, and cut their funny 

 pranks. No sooner were 

 we all asleep, than they 

 made a sudden dash over 

 the lockers and across 

 our faces for the cabin- 

 door, where all broke out into a loud He! he! he! 

 he! he! he! showing how keenly they enjoyed the 



Fig. 213. — The Striped or Barbary Mouse (Mus striates). 



their short tail, and 



Fig. 214.— The Common Field-vole (Arvicola arvalis). 



forward with as much 

 delight and scampered 

 over the men. Every 

 night they went fore 

 and aft, rousing with 

 impartial feet every 

 sleeper, and laughing to 

 scorn the aimless blows, 

 growls, and deadly 

 rushes of outraged 

 human ity." — Expedition 

 to the Zambesi, chap. 

 vi.] 



The Voles. 

 -This group (Arvi- 

 colina) consists of 

 rodents very similar 

 to the rats and mice, 

 but distinguished 

 from them by their 

 thicker head with 

 broad blunt muzzle, 

 their thickset body, 

 the structure of their 

 cheek-teeth. These 

 have such a large 

 number of enamel 

 folds crossing one 

 another at acute 

 angles, that the grind- 

 ing surface of the 

 three very close -set 

 teeth of this kind 

 forms a long zigzag 

 line. The field-voles 

 live like the true field- 

 mice, do no little dam- 

 age in plantations and 

 forests, but never 

 enter houses. They 

 flee as much as pos- 

 sible from the pre- 

 sence of man. 



Of the numerous 

 native members of this 

 group we mention first of all the Common 

 Field-vole, Campagnol, or Short-tailed Field- 



