66 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



MAMMALIA. 



The Food of the Water- Vole. — There has been, I believe, rnuoh 

 discussion as to whether the Water- Vole (Arvicola amphibius) will eat 

 animal food or not. Most writers on natural history agree to their 

 being entirely vegetable feeders. The Rev. J. G. Wood, among others, 

 says: — "I never yet saw the true suub-nosed, short-eared, yellow- 

 toothed Vole engaged in eating animal food, although the Brown Rat 

 may often be detected in such an act." I myself have twice caught 

 the Water-Vole in the ordinary steel rat-trap baited with meat, which 

 I think proves that the Water- Vole will at times partake of animal 

 food if it can get it. — Gordon Dalgliesh (Inglefield, Milford, near 

 Godalming, Surrey). 



AVES. 



Breeding of the Lesser Redpoll (Linota rufescens) in Somerset. — 

 It is only during recent years that the Lesser Redpoll has been recorded 

 as a species which breeds in Somerset. Of late, however, several nests 

 of this bird have been found, and it is probable that at the present time 

 the species breeds regularly in many parts of the county. I am not 

 aware that any nest has been recorded as found in the county before 

 the year 1888, but in that year the Rev. T. W. Allen informs me that 

 he found a nest on the Blackdown Hills, near Wellington, and that he 

 knew that two more nests had been found more recently in the same 

 district. This species has also bred in the neighbourhood of Frome, 

 for the Rev. M. A. Mathew has recorded (Zool. 1897, p. 423) that nests 

 and eggs have been taken, and a brood of young birds seen, near Buck- 

 land Dinham Vicarage, between the years 1888 and 1897. Mr. C. F. 

 Henderson, of Flax Bourton, near Bristol, has informed me in writing 

 that the Lesser Redpoll has nested frequently in his neighbourhood 

 since the year 1892. In one season he knew of four nests within a 

 small area. In the pages of ' The Zoologist ' for 1894 are several 

 notices of the breeding of the Lesser Redpoll in Somerset (vide 

 pp. 228, 265, 304, 305). From these records it appears that observers 

 noticed that the species nested in several localities near Bath in 1893, 



