290 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



the next village ; it was gravid at the time, and, on opening it, 

 I found eight young within, perfectly formed, and apparently 

 quite ready for exclusion. I once at Ely found a small specimen 

 of this black variety, measuring not quite five inches from the 

 nose to the root of the tail, lying dead on the ground beneath 

 the nest of a White Owl."* Mr. Jenyns thought that Jesse's 

 " sort of Vole, which partook very much of the appearance of a 

 Rat" ('Gleanings,' 2nd series, p. 2?) was doubtless referable to 

 the black variety of the Water Vole. 



Norfolk. — Mr. T. Southwell communicated the following 

 facts to 'The Zoologist' (1890, p. 216) : — " By no means in- 

 frequent in Norfolk. I have seen many entirely black specimens, 

 but never remember to have met with any individuals intermediate 

 between this and the normal colours. The late Mr. Lubbock 

 was quite of opinion that this variety, as I believe it is rightly 

 regarded, was entitled to specific distinction. He says, in an 

 unpublished note, which I have quoted in the second edition of 

 his 'Fauna of Norfolk' (p. 10, note) : — 'I have examined many 

 of these animals when dead, and have watched their habits when 

 alive, and I must believe that the difference in colour in this 

 case arises from diversity of species. The brown are considerably 

 the largest ; and in the spring, when they may be seen often in 

 pairs, I have never observed a brown and a black one together, 

 but the colours always correspondent. At that season they may 

 frequently be seen feeding close together at the entrance of their 

 hole, and examined at the distance of a few yards.' Prof. Newton 

 told me that the black-furred one was the only form of the animal 



which he used to meet with at Elvedon, near Thetford 



The black variety of A. agrestis, referred to by Mr. Aplin, was 

 sent to be preserved by Mr. Gunn, at whose shop I saw it, and it 

 was a beautiful little animal, pure black." This was a variety of 

 A. agrestis analogous to the var. ater of amphibius, referred to by 

 Aplin in a note on varieties of A. amphibius (Zool. 1890, p. 179). 

 Mr. J. H. Gurney, in 'The Zoologist,' 1870 (p. 5177), reported 

 that an adult Water Vole was trapped at Keswick, near Norwich, 

 in which the entire fur was of a deep black, but with a slight 

 silvery reflection on some of the largest hairs of the back. 



Suffolk. — Mr. G.T. Rope writes that neither his brother nor 



:: ' Observations in Natural History,' p. 70. 



