292 the Zoologist. 



which he kindly made throughout the county resulted in his 

 being unable to hear of its occurrence anywhere in Hampshire. 

 Mr. E. Hart, of Christchurch, also writes that he has never met 

 with this form in a live state. 



Dorset. — The Rev. F. 0. Pickard-Cambridge met with no 

 specimens of the black form of this Vole during a prolonged 

 residence in Dorset. 



Somerset. — The Rev. Murray A. Mathew writes : — " I have 

 seen them in several places in this county ; in my old parish, 

 Bishop's Lydeard (West Somerset), and at Wrington, in East 

 Somerset." 



Devon. — Mr. A. Mitchell writes that he has failed to detect 

 the black form of the Water Vole in Devon ; and Mr. Pidsley has 

 been unable to discover anything about it in this county. 



Cornwall. — Mr. Thomas Cornish writes from Penzance, 

 " The black variety of the Water Vole has never been observed 

 in this district, or indeed, I may say, in all Cornwall." 



III. Wales. 



The discovery of the Black Water Vole in North Wales is 

 probably only a matter of time, since it has been recorded from 

 Cheshire and Shropshire. But at present the Welsh information 

 relating to it which has come into our hands is limited to one 

 instance of its occurrence in the southern part of the principality. 



Mr. G. H. Caton Haigh writes of Merionethshire: — "In 

 this county, though a few Water Rats are to be seen on most of 

 our rivers and marshes, the species is not abundant ; and though 

 I have made no special effort to obtain the black variety, I have 

 always been on the look out for it myself, and I do not think it 

 would have escaped my notice had it existed here, as between 

 wildfowl shooting and fishing I am continually in the haunts of 

 the species"; and Mr. F. C. Rawlings, of Barmouth, says: — "I 

 have never noticed any variation from the ordinary brownish grey. 

 They are fairly numerous along the railway-gutters and on the 

 marsh, but cannot be called very common." Mr. Caton Haigh's 

 remarks apply to the adjoining portion of Carnarvonshire. 

 The Rev. Murray A. Mathew writes : — "I never saw any in 

 Pembrokeshire ; but this is no evidence against their existence 

 there." He lived near Wolfscastle. Mr. E. C. Phillips, as the 

 result of many enquiries kindly instituted in Brecon and of his 



