82 VERTEBRATE FAUNA OF LAKELAND 



ricks of corn, or in the semi-aquatic quarters which it shares in 

 summer with the harmless Water Vole. 



Order RODENTIA. Fam. ARVICOLINJE. 



WATER VOLE. 



Arvicola amphibius (L.). 



The Water Eat is common throughout Lakeland from Furness 

 to the Scottish borders, upon which it is especially numerous. 

 At Ravenglass these animals have runs among the sandhills, 

 and burrow in the sand in many directions, thus showing a 

 curious divergence from their usual choice. The black variety is 

 rare in Lakeland ; indeed, it is only known to me by report. It 

 is said to have occurred in two instances in the Eden valley. 

 The late Mr. Grayson of Whitehaven told me that a few Black 

 Rats frequented a small beck in that neighbourhood. Mr. W. 

 E. Beck with informs me that Black Water Voles occur on Rydal 

 Water and Windermere, but no resident in the district appears 

 to have seen them. If they still exist they must be very rare, 

 because my local inquiries have been well directed. A ' black 

 rat ' reported to Mr. G. A. Hutchinson as having been killed 

 on the Kendal Canal, but not preserved, was probably a black 

 Water Vole. 



COMMON FIELD VOLE. 



Arvicola agreslis, De Selys. 



The Short-tailed Field Mouse has increased in most districts 

 of late years, in consequence of the destruction of owls and 

 kestrels. It frequents our hills no less than the low grounds. 

 Under some circumstances this Vole appears to approach dwell- 

 ing-houses in search of food. Among the MS. notes by the late 

 Dr. Gough I find this amusing little paragraph : ' A company 

 of these voles had made their way into a storeroom indoors 

 during the autumn ; and in the winter about half a dozen of 

 them were found dead among the syrup of gooseberry-jam, — a 

 sweet kind of death for a novice.' 





