66 TRANSACTIONS LIVERPOOL BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 
On Oct. Ist, I was about a mile from the farm, in a lane 
bordered on either hand by a growth of shrubs, brambles and 
gorse. From one of the gorse bushes there sprang a Bank Vole, 
which disappeared amongst the undergrowth. Examination 
revealed, hidden in a dense bush, and about three feet from the 
eround, the nest shown in Fig. I. It is oval in shape, three 
inches long, and composed of withered grass and leaves. Here 
there is a clearly defined entrance at the far end, with a short 
way to it through the gorse. In a similar lane, near at hand, 
I found, on Oct. 6th, yet another nest, also in a gorse bush, 
but not so well concealed. This nest was also three feet from 
the ground, and three inches in length, but was composed of 
grass only. The entrance can be seen easily (Fig. 2). 
One outstanding feature is that the nests in the bramble 
bushes are round, whilst those built in the gorse bushes are 
oval in shape. Barrat-Hamilton in his book, The Mammalia 
of Great Britain, states that the “‘ nurseries” (i.e., breeding 
nests) of the vole may be usually found above ground, in 
hedgerows or hayfields, and also speaks of elevated nests. 
Owing to his death, it 1s impossible to know what he meant by 
this. The only figured ‘‘nursery ” in his book is shown below 
eround. I am inclined to think that they are sleeping places, 
for they seem too small to hold a family. I believe they 
have not hitherto been recorded, and will bear further in- 
vestigation. 
I have presented a round and an oval nest to the Liverpool 
Museum ; an oval one to the Manchester and to the Edinburgh 
Museums; and the nest built in the whitethroat’s nest to the 
museum at Warrington. 
N.B.— Further investigation since the above note was 
read throws some doubt upon the nests being made by the 
vole. It is possible that they may have been made by the 
dormouse. 
