282 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



the facts of the distribution of this Arvicola. The references to 

 Scotland are placed under the " Faunal Areas," now universally 

 accepted among Scottish naturalists, while the records relating 

 to England are inserted under the headings of their respective 

 counties. 



Although Macgillivray wrote of it as confined (in Britain) to 

 Scotland, it was afterwards recorded by the Rev. L. Jenyns from the 

 fen ditches of Cambridgeshire, as well as by Lubbock from Norfolk. 

 The fact of its inhabiting these widely separated localities induced 

 us to think that its presence might be detected elsewhere in Great 

 Britain. At all events, the peculiarities of its range, as pre- 

 viously recorded, seem to deserve further attention. Accordingly 

 we embarked on an extensive correspondence with the naturalists 

 of Great Britain, with a view to ascertain in what districts the 

 black variety of the Water Vole has been found. Aplin also asked, 

 through the columns of ' The Field,' for the co-operation of 

 those students of the British Vertebrate Fauna with whose names 

 we were not acquainted. This correspondence has resulted in 

 a considerable amount of information coming into our hands. 

 This information, together with that which we have gleaned from 

 published records and accounts of this animal, we now have the 

 pleasure of laying before the readers of * The Zoologist.' While 

 tendering our sincere and grateful thanks to the correspondents 

 who so kindly responded to our request for information, we 

 feel that some apology is due on account of the delay in the 

 appearance of this paper. This is due to the fact that Macpherson, 

 having undertaken the task of searching the Scottish literature 

 on the subject, was unfortunate enough to lose his first tran- 

 scripts, and was therefore obliged to wait many months before 

 another opportunity arrived of his working again over even a 

 portion of the same ground. We should like to add that we hope 

 other field naturalists will come forward and record their expe- 

 riences of the distribution of this variety. 



It will be seen, from the statistics thus furnished, that this 

 melanotic variety is rare in England, occurring sporadically in 

 many districts widely distant from one another, but only well 

 established in the fen country of Norfolk and Cambridgeshire. 

 On entering Scotland, it appears to be very local until we reach 

 the Trossachs in the west, and the watershed of the Tay on the 

 east coast; north of which it occurs almost as generally as the 

 familiar brown form. 



