79 
PART III.-NATURAL HISTORY. 
ORIGINAL COMMUNICATIONS. 
Article I .—On the Havock committed by the Short-tailed 
Field Moiise^ (Mus Arvalis) in the Plaiiiatioiis of the Forest 
of Dean, Communicated by Mr. E. Murphy. 
?vlu. Billtxgton, in liis work on Planting, published in 1825, gives 
us an account of the extraordinary havock committed on the young 
])lantations in the h’orest of Dean, by the Short-tailed Field Mouse, 
{J\lus Aroalisf) [11] and having sought in vain amongst such of the 
writers, who have described this animal, as I had an opportunity of 
consulting, for any observations as to this propensity, am led to believe, 
that except those who Fave seen Mr. Billington’s book, few have any 
notion of its powers in this respect. 
Mr. B. commences his account of it by informing us, that he had 
frequently observed great quantities of small oak and ash plants, bar¬ 
ked, and bitten off, at about six inches from the ground; these attacks 
were generally made in situations where the long grass and furze 
protected the depredators from their natural enemies, the hawks, 
owls, &c. ‘h'eqairing, ]|ke most other mischief,” he obseiwes, ‘Ho be 
-done in the dark.” 
Before the autumn of 1813. ” he continues,‘Ghe mice had be 
cojiie so numerous, that we could pick up four or five plants, of the 
larger five year old oaks, on a very small piece of ground, all bitten 
off”, just within the ground, between the roots and the stem; and not 
only oak and ash, but elm, sycamore, and Spanish chesnut, of which, 
however, they did not appear to be so fond as of the two former. The 
hollies which had been cut do^vn, produced abundance of suckers, 
which were destroyed in thesame manner, and some of them which 
nere as thick as a man’s leg, were barked all round, for four or five 
feet up the stem.” The crab-tree, willow, furze, larch, spruce—in a 
word, every kind of tree, and even grass, particularly cocks-foot grass, 
seemed equally acceptable to these voracious little creatures; till at 
