A HISTORY OF BEDFORDSHIRE Rowney Warren has the white of the under parts considerably extended, white feet, and a white line along the upper part of the back. Dr. Sprigge mentions seeing one in the woods at Clophill in 1898, which appeared to him to be quite black, and Mr. A. Covington once had one sent him which had the tail pied black and white. 19. Dormouse. Muscardinus avellanarius, Linn. Bell — Myoxus avellanarius. In an article upon the range of dormice in England and Wales (Zoologist, 1885), Mr. J. F. Woods, who formerly lived at Woburn, states that in 1856 he found several in that parish, also at Great and Bow Brickhill and on the Chiltern Hills in Buckinghamshire. Writing to me in reference to these particulars, he adds that the dormice were taken in Lowe's Wood, Charle Wood, about half a mile from the shire oak, the county border, and that since then he had also heard of their being in Milton Wood at Milton Bryant. 20. Harvest Mouse. Mus minutus, Pallas. I have not yet met with this species in the county ; neither have I ever been able to trace any of its remains amongst the thou- sands of owls' pellets that I have examined from various localities. My father neverthe- less mentions that it was not uncommon around his home at Blunham about 1830, and that he has found its nests there. Mr. j. King also assures me that when a resident at Southill about 1870 he found it tolerably common around there, but he never met with it elsewhere. 21. Wood Mouse or Long-tailed Field Mouse. Mus sylvaticus, Linn. Abundant everywhere, and at times a very destructive little animal, especially in the market gardening lands, where it feeds on cucumber and marrow seeds. During last year I was assured by one man that he had trapped over seventy of this species in a few days on a piece of land about an acre in extent, the traps being baited with the mar- row seeds only. 22. House Mouse. Mus musculus, Linn. Very abundant generally. Pied varieties have been occasionally met with. 23. Brown Rat. Mus decumanus, Pallas. Far too common. Two albinos in my possession were caught at Cockayne Hatley in May 1895, and two of the melanistic form were killed at Stotfold in December 1896. Others which I have also been enabled to examine were killed — one in the neighbourhood of Luton about 1885, and another near Harlington in 1901. A male and female were killed at Astwick Mills 8 December 1896. One was obtained during the summer of the same year at Kempston, and several specimens have been received by Mr. A. Covington from other localities. 24. Black Rat. Mus rattus, Linn. Probably at one time common enough ; the only information we have of its more recent existence is that Davis (History of Luton, 1855) records "t then as rare in that neigh- bourhood ; it is not improbable that he may have mistaken the black form of the brown rat (Mus decumanus) for this species. 25. Field Vole. Microtus agrestis, Linn. Bell — Arvicola agrestis. Common generally. 26. Bank Vole. Evotomys glareolus, Schreber. Bell — Arvicola glareolus. Fairly abundant. Since this species was first recorded in Bedfordshire (Zoologist, 1895) I have occasionally found it even exceeding the field vole in number. In some owls' pellets recently examined from Sandy, Brom- ham, Clophill, Sharpenhoe and Rowney Warren, the remains of 155 mice (chiefly Mus sylvaticus), 2 rats, 9 field voles and 10 red bank voles were found, besides 38 finches and 8 insectivorous birds. 27. Water Vole. Microtus amphibius, Linn. Bell — Arvicola amphibius. Common in the immediate vicinity of all our waterways, streams and larger pools. I have sometimes noticed considerable damage to osier beds caused by this vole gnawing and felling the osiers in a similar way to the beaver felling trees, but for what purpose I fail to understand ; no portion of the felled osiers had apparently been used as food. An albino of a dingy-cream colour with pink eyes was shot at Henlow Park 23 March 1899. Several of the melanistic forms have been taken ; one from a pond at Clapham Park in 1867 ; also two from near the river ford of that village, and two or more from Biddenham many years previously. 28. Common Hare. Lepus europaus, Pallas. Bell — Lepus timidus. Not so generally numerous as formerly, depending for its existence on the amount of protection afforded it. A jack hare shot at 142
