FIELD NOTES ON SOME BRITISH MAMMALIA. 173 



Voles that were very nearly as large as half-grown Rats. I very 

 much regret now I did not obtain some of these, as they might 

 have proved to be an undescribed species or form. It is worth 

 noting that — in the case of Voles, at least — those found on islands 

 are larger than those of the mainland. Thus we have the Orkney 

 Vole considerably larger than its near ally, the Field-Vole ; and 

 the Skomer Island Vole, which may be compared to a large 

 Bank- Vole ; and, lastly, the Guernsey Voles I have alluded to 

 above. Mr. Drane, of Cardiff, was the discoverer of the Skomer 

 Vole, and in a letter he wrote to me he says : — " The island is 

 off Pembrokeshire, of some six hundred acres. There is not a 

 tree on the island, the largest shrub is the common furze, .... 

 and it was there I first recorded the Vole as Microtus skomerensis 

 in 1896." There is no doubt that the Voles of the British Isles 

 until lately had been very imperfectly worked out, and even now 

 I feel sure that close attention and careful collecting would reveal 

 many more interesting points. 



Water- Vole (M. amphibius). — In a former volume of ' The 

 Zoologist' (1902, p. 66), I drew attention to the carnivorous 

 tastes of the Water-Vole, which was confirmed by Mr. Patterson 

 (p. 111). Another case came under my notice a year ago, when 

 I saw one in the act of devouring some Moorhen's eggs. I have 

 shot several of these Voles, which appeared to be suffering from 

 a disease in the form of a hard scaly scab on the sides of the 

 body. The animals appeared to be otherwise healthy; but this I 

 have noticed many times, and the fact may be worth noting. 



