MAMMALS. 



55 



sary to say that it appears to be almost everywhere sought for ; and 

 actual absence is more difficult to prove than presence. But in this 

 connection it may be worth while to mention that it was only after 

 considerable time spent in trapping that A. agrestis was found to 

 exist in certain portions west of the watershed, as, for instance, in the 

 Loch Awe district of Argyll by Mr. C. H. Alston in 1904-5. It 

 would therefore be premature to assign a positive value to its popu- 

 lation in all parts of Scotland at this date of A.D. 1905. Very likely 

 in a short time there may be great changes in the universality of its 

 distribution over the whole of Scotland, and then of course it will 

 become more and more difficult to decide the antiquity of the race in 

 the country. 



Arvicola glareolus (Schreh.). Red Field Vole or Bank Vole. 



This closely allied form to the last is, or has been, generally considered 

 as more local in dispersal than its congener. Certainly it has, so far 

 as absolute returns show, a more restricted range ; but perhaps its 

 distribution would be better described as differing from the others, 

 as may be said to have been already pointed out. To put it thus : 

 Rather of a different distribution, as shown under the last-mentioned 

 species and illustrated by Mr. Evans. Always a species preferring 

 the shelter of woods, it still remains in them even in winter, and 

 does not seem to wander far afield. The Bank Vole shows a decided 

 preference for dry oak coppice, but is also found in old or young 

 fir woods. 



Sub-order DUPLICIDENTATA. 



Family LEPORIDiE. 

 Lepus europaeus, Pall. Common or Brown Hare. 



The Brown Hare does not appear to have been of very general dispersal 

 in the more Highland portion of our area in times past, or otherwise 

 our information is awanting from many parts. The old Statistical 

 Account, however, mentions it in several parishes. It is stated, on 

 the other hand, to have been wonderfully abundant in Forfarshire 

 and along the south slopes of the foothills of the Grampians, as well 

 as in the low grounds, and formed, in the days of the Agricultural 

 Survey, the principal food of the Fox. 



At the present time, and since the Ground-Game Act was passed 

 — the thin edge of tlie late Gladstone wedge — the Brown Hare has become 

 almost extinct in many parts of the low grounds, and especially 



