172 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



of Dormice in a wood a few miles away from the Crystal Palace, 

 and could have taken scores of them. Their nests were built on 

 low bushes. One I caught was asleep in a Thrush's nest, where 

 it had sucked the eggs, three in number. Eound Godalming, in 

 Surrey, the Dormouse is yearly becoming rarer, no doubt in 

 consequence of the toll levied on them to supply London dealers, 

 and I heard of one man in that neighbourhood who made a 

 living out of catching Dormice and Squirrels. 



Wood-Mouse (Mus sylvaticus). — I have taken every inter- 

 mediate variety of this Mouse, from the typical sylvaticus to the 

 so-called "Yellow-necked Mouse," Mus flavicollis. Some speci- 

 mens showed no trace whatever of the yellow pectoral band, and 

 others were nearly flavicollis, but not quite, having the band 

 slightly broken in the middle. I took one specimen of flavicollis 

 on Bichmond Hill, and another at Milford, Surrey. I have 

 trapped these Mice in a variety of situations in hedges, under 

 bushes, in outhouses, round corn-ricks, and on the banks of 

 streams, and in my opinion they are every bit as common as the 

 House-Mouse. I found one asleep in a nest during November. 

 The nest was a round structure, made of grass, and placed 

 in a hazel-bush, but whether this was built by the animal itself, 

 or was the deserted nest of a Dormouse, I am unable to say. 



Bank- Vole (Evotomys glareolus). — This Vole I have found to 

 be quite common, at least in the south. I have trapped them 

 among ivy-roots, and also in damp marshy woods, and in this 

 last situation I found a nest composed of leaves, and placed in a 

 thick tuft of grass at the foot of an alder-bush, containing five 

 naked young. This was in May. I have found them breeding 

 throughout the summer months, and killed a pregnant female in 

 September, and one was caught on Nov. 5th that would have 

 shortly given birth to five young (A. H. Bishop, in lit.). 



Field-Vole {Microtus agrestis). — I would like to draw atten- 

 tion to the great variability in size of the Field-Vole. According 

 to my own experience those in the South of England are, on the 

 whole, smaller than those of the midland and northern counties* 

 Specimens I have examined, collected in Surrey, Hampshire, and 

 Middlesex, were quite typical ; whilst some collected in Warwick- 

 shire and Yorkshire were very large indeed, quite above the 

 average. Whilst I was in Guernsey I was shown some Field- 



