302 
ON THE MAMMALS OF LEICESTERSHIRE. 
Three species of Insectivora, the mole, the shrew, and the 
hedgehog, are common everywhere ; but it is not popularly 
known that the shrew, though commonly called a mouse, is 
not a mouse at all, but is a near relative of the mole. A 
fourth species, the water shrew, is sometimes found about 
our brooks and rivers. 
Of the three Cheiroptera, the Pipistrelle, or Little Bat, or 
Flittermouse, is the commonest in this county. The Long¬ 
eared Bat and the Noctule or Great High-flying Bat are met 
with occasionally. I remember some years ago seeing a pair 
of Noctules flying high above the summit of Beacon Hill one 
summer evening, their outline and wing-action clearly dis¬ 
tinguishing them from any kind of bird. 
Of our eleven Bodents, the Hare and the Babbit would 
perhaps soon become extinct if they were not protected. 
The Brown Bat we would extinguish if we could, for it seems 
to be in civilized regions a pure nuisance. It is not a native 
of Britain, nor even of Europe. Its original home is Asia, 
but it has now found its way into every country in the world. 
It was first seen in England about 150 years ago. At that 
time we had a Bat of our own—the old Black Bat, a smaller 
and weaker animal than the brown invader, and now almost 
extinct. I have heard of its being seen in some old Leicester 
cellars within the last twenty years. 
The Common Mouse is now as widely distributed as the 
Brown But. The Long-tailed Field Mouse is common in 
many districts. Forty years ago, when I lived at Lough¬ 
borough, it was our commonest garden pest, and we used as 
boys to catch it in considerable numbers and to preserve the 
skins for their beautiful tawny-coloured fur. In my present 
garden at Birstal Hill it is never seen ; we have instead the 
Short-tailed Field Vole, and a great many Shrews. The 
Voles are distinguished from the true mice and rats by being 
purely vegetable feeders, as is shown by their teeth, which 
are not tubercled on the surface. They are allied to the 
Beaver. The Water Vole, or Water Bat, is common on the 
banks of all our rivers and brooks. The Harvest Mouse is, 
I believe, recorded in the county, but is not common. It is 
the smallest of the British mammals, and seems most 
abundant in the Southern Counties, though it is rather a 
sub-arctic form, and has been found in Scotland. The Dor¬ 
mouse is also rare in Leicestershire. It is a South European 
form, inhabiting thickets and hedges, and a vegetable feeder, 
allied to the Squirrel, which is a common animal in this 
county, and one of the most elegant and interesting of all our 
Bodents. 
