BRITISH MAMMALS 



Its favourite food consists of the juicy stems of grasses, but young shoots 

 of heather and various other plants are eaten. 



The Field Vole soon becomes tame in captivity, and unlike mice and 

 most other rodents seldom attempts to bite when handled. 



THE ORKNEY VOLE. 



Microtus orcadensis, Millais. 

 Plate 31. 



This fine Vole, vi^hose discovery as a distinct species we owe to 

 Mr. Millais, was first described by him in the Zoologist (July 1904), 

 though he had observed its distinctive features some years previously. 



The maximum size of the species, given by this naturalist in his 

 Mammals of Great Britain and Ireland^ is : head and body 140 milli- 

 metres (5^ inches), tail 30 millimetres (i^ inches), the dimensions in very 

 large males being nearly double those of the Common Field Vole. 



Some living specimens in Autumn pelage I had an opportunity of 

 examining were in colour a yellowish brown above, with under parts of a 

 yellowish buff. Compared with the mainland Vole, this island species has 

 a rounder head and much blunter muzzle and also a more bushy growth of 

 the fur on the cheeks. 



Superficially it has a good deal of resemblance to the Water Vole, 

 but according to Mr. Millais it is more closely related to the Common 

 Field Vole. The majority of the specimens first obtained were fi-om 

 Pomona, the main island of the Orkneys, but the species has been found 

 inhabiting all the larger islands of the group, except Hoy. 



It frequents the grass and clover fields on the lower parts of the islands 



and prefers moist localities. Black varieties of the species are not uncommon. 



24 



