174 



THE ZOOLOGIST. 



pellets of the same species from Aldford. We have received 

 many specimens from Mr. N. Neave, taken at Rainow, near 

 Macclesfield, and have trapped it in the same district at Higher 

 Sutton, as well as at Brooklands, Bowdon, Ashley, Ringway, 

 Lymm, Siddington, Chelford, Mouldsworth, and Parkgate. Its 

 favourite haunts are hedge-banks and copses, but we have 

 obtained specimens in gardens, and, at Gatley and Lymm, in 

 osier-beds. By frequenting such situations it is less liable than 

 agrestis to fall a prey to the Barn Owl, though we have found 

 -several skulls in pellets from Great Budworth, Dunham Park, 

 and Wythenshawe. In traps baited with bread sprinkled with 

 powdered aniseed this species is taken much more freely than 

 agrestis, a result possibly due to its more omnivorous habits. 

 The Bank Vole may be readily distinguished from the Field Vole 

 by its slighter build, longer tail, and redder fur. The difference 

 in the teeth is very marked (figs. 1, 2). In fully mature glareolus 

 the grinders in both jaws are furnished with double roots, the teeth 

 in the upper assuming this form at an earlier age than those in 

 the lower jaw; whereas in agrestis the teeth retain their simple 

 form throughout life. In the 2nd edition of Bell's * British 

 Quadrupeds' the number of cemental spaces in the second upper 

 grinder is given as six, but, as a reference to the accompanying 

 figures will show, there are four spaces in glareolus and five in 

 agrestis. The angles of all the teeth in glareolus are much more 

 rounded than in agrestis. 



Mus decumanus, Pall. ; Brown Bat. — This common and 

 destructive species abounds everywhere, and is detested alike by 

 the gamekeeper and farmer. Many are killed by Barn Owls, 

 which should be encouraged, if only for this reason. Stoats and 

 Weasels might keep them in check to some extent, but they are 

 under the gamekeeper's ban themselves. In many places the 

 hedge-banks are honeycombed by rat-holes, and the creatures 

 may be met with in nearly every pond and ditch, as well as in 

 game-coverts and about farm-buildings and houses. In Dunham 

 Park they are exceedingly numerous, making their holes beneatl 

 the rhododendron-bushes. The large Pond-mussel (Anodonta 

 cygnea) is eaten by this species, and we have often found shells 

 with the margins of the valves bitten away ; but it is not clear 

 how the rats force open the shells, which are held together by 

 very strong muscles. 



