. A history of British mammals . adult females,omitting (as immature) Nos. 4,9, and 13 no 104 111 96100100111103 96 12012211898 38-5 35-5 42 32 36 35 35 35 35 35398433 18 1S5 IS 17 16 6 18 18 5 :s 18 18181717 10-6 10-6 11-5 10-5 10 10 11 10 10 IS12-51211-6 1 110 86-4 17-8 11-2 The mice are also found on sandy ground near the sea-shore,as on Sanday. They sometimes enter cuhivated fields tofeed on the crops, and numbers may then be killed when thehay is cut in August. THE ORKNEY GRASS MOUSE 465 Nests of dry grass and roots, having a greatest diameter offrom 5 to 8 inches, are placed in rounded c
. A history of British mammals . adult females,omitting (as immature) Nos. 4,9, and 13 no 104 111 96100100111103 96 12012211898 38-5 35-5 42 32 36 35 35 35 35 35398433 18 1S5 IS 17 16 6 18 18 5 :s 18 18181717 10-6 10-6 11-5 10-5 10 10 11 10 10 IS12-51211-6 1 110 86-4 17-8 11-2 The mice are also found on sandy ground near the sea-shore,as on Sanday. They sometimes enter cuhivated fields tofeed on the crops, and numbers may then be killed when thehay is cut in August. THE ORKNEY GRASS MOUSE 465 Nests of dry grass and roots, having a greatest diameter offrom 5 to 8 inches, are placed in rounded chambers in thecentres of small mounds. They are never at the end of a run,but are approached by a network of paths suggestive of a moles fortress. The mice may be seen in their runs all day, but that doesnot imply that they are not also active in the night.^ Theyswim well, and Mr Millais states that if pursued they will plungeinto a pool rather than go round by land ; one which he releasedin a pond dived under the surface. r,..t. ^eof ^U U U° Ipclie* Fig. 74.—Plan of Nests of Orkney Vole. (The dotted line representsthe base of the mound.) They do not seem to be very prolific nor to have a season, and for this reason, perhaps, no plagues areknown to have occurred in the Orkneys. Mr Millais reportsthat the first litters appear in April, and he has seen half-grownyoung at the end of September. But Mr Kinnear found noyoung at the end of May, except one about a quarter grown. Ogilvie-Grant caught one at 466 MURID^—ORCADENSIS At that time, of sixteen females trapped, several were pregnantwith from two to six foetuses/ Others taken by Mr Godfreyon 8th and 9th August contained foetuses the size of Robert Drane ^ has bred these mice in confinement, andstates that six received in August 1904 increased to sixteenby October. There was then a cessation of reproduction until28th February 1905, when two of the females gave birth tolitters of three and four
Size: 1784px × 1400px
Photo credit: © Reading Room 2020 / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectmammals, bookyear1910
