Chapter II: Part 2

The following orders of Mammals are distinguished: I. Bimana (Man), II. Quadrumana (Apes), III. Carnivora (Beasts of prey), IV. Insectivora (Insect-eaters), V. Cheiroptera (Bats), VI. Rodentia (Gnawers), VII. Ruminantia, VIII. Solidungula, IX. Pachydermata, X. Cetacea, XI. Edentata, XII. Marsupialia (Pouched animals), XIII. Monotremata.

I shall deal here only with those orders which are of agricultural importance.

ORDER: =Carnivora= (BEASTS OF PREY).

In each jaw there are six relatively small incisor teeth; and, on each side of these, a large projecting canine, by which the flesh is torn from the body of the prey (Fig. 14). The premolars and the first of the true molars (the carnassials[2]) are strongly compressed, and have a cutting crown; their outer surface is completely covered with hard enamel. As the lower jaw is smaller than the upper jaw, and is only able to move up and down, not from side to side, the sharp crowns of the premolars, and especially those of the large carnassials, cut along one another, and divide anything coming between them as if with shears. The small molars which are usually found behind the carnassials have broad tuberculated crowns. The temporal (_i.e._ chewing) muscles are strongly developed, the general result of which is that the head is broad. The claws are very sharp in some of the families. The Carnivora are powerful animals, move very quickly, and are endowed with keen smell and sight.

Footnote 2:

The upper carnassials = last premolars.
The lower „ = first molars.—TR.

The wild Carnivora living in Britain belong to the families of cats, dogs, and weasels.

Family: =Felidæ= (_Cat Family_).

Typical Carnivora with very large canines and carnassials, two premolars in each half of each jaw, one of the upper molars, but none of the lower ones, small and tuberculated. Tongue rough. Fore and hind feet five-toed. When not in use, the claws are drawn back (retracted). The Felidæ are digitigrade. Backbone very flexible, and with free power of movement. The Felidæ are bloodthirsty, nocturnal animals, many of which climb well, and spring upon their prey.

The group is specially exemplified by the =Domestic Cat=, the parent stock of which is the Nubian cat (_Felis maniculata_), a native of Nubia and the Soudan. The =Wild Cat= (_Felis catus_) is larger than the common kind, and has a thicker tail. Formerly it was tolerably common in Britain, but now only occurs in a few thinly populated districts.

FIG. 14.—Skull of Domestic Cat.
]

The =Lynx= (_Felis Lynx_), found at one time in Germany, still lives
in the Carpathians, and in Switzerland, but occurs more commonly in
Scandinavia, Denmark, and Russia.

Family: =Canidæ= (_Dog Family_).

Head longer than in cats; canines and carnassials relatively less developed. Two tuberculated molars on each side of each jaw. Claws not so sharp as those of cats, and cannot be drawn back (_i.e._ are nonretractile). Fore-foot five, hind-foot four toes. Tongue smooth.

The various races of the =Domestic Dog= belong here.

The wolf (_Canis lupus_) is no longer an inhabitant of Britain or
Germany, but sometimes crosses the German frontier from Russia,
Galicia, Hungary, the Alps, and the Ardennes, especially in winter,
and preys upon the larger domestic animals.

The remaining example is—

=The Fox= (_Canis vulpes_).

This animal lives in an underground dwelling, which is either dug out by itself or else is a deserted badger-burrow. It kills roes, fawns, hares, and game-birds; in farms it preys on poultry and eggs. It never commits depredations in the neighbourhood of its burrow, for fear of betraying its hiding-place. Valuable services, however, must be balanced against the damage mentioned above, for it catches many rabbits, and also an enormous number of field-voles in the years when these become a pest. It also often eats insects (_e.g._ cockchafers), worms, and snails. In fact, the fox is perhaps generally of more use than otherwise to the farmer and forester.

Family: =Mustelidæ= (_Weasel Family_).

Elongated, slender; legs short; head small and flat; cranium elongated; tongue smooth. Five toes on each foot, with small, sharp claws. A tuberculated molar on each side in the upper and lower jaws. The weasels give out an offensive odour from stink-glands situated near the anus.

There belong to this family—

1. The =Pine Marten= (_Mustela martes_). Body up to twenty inches, tail up to ten inches long; fur brown, with yellowish wool-hairs; a yellow patch on the throat. Is found in thick woods, where it destroys small birds and squirrels; it also kills much poultry and game.

2. The =Beech=, or =Stone Marten= (_Mustela foina_). About as large as the preceding species; greyish-brown fur, with whitish wool-hairs; a white patch in the throat; chiefly occurs in the immediate neighbourhood of human dwellings, in barns, wood-stacks, etc.; kills a great deal of poultry, sometimes also wild birds, mice, and game.

3. The =Polecat= (_Putorius fœtidus_). Shining brownish black, with yellow wool-hairs; somewhat smaller than the stone marten; in particular, the tail is shorter and its hair is not so long as in the two preceding species. In the summer it lives in the open country, in hollow trees, or in the burrows of foxes and rabbits; in winter it settles down near human dwellings, where it lives in wood and under heaps of brushwood, haylofts, etc. In summer it may do more good by destroying numerous field-voles, water-rats, etc., than harm by devouring those singing birds which are favourable to agriculture; but in winter its undesirable visits to the fowl-house and dove-cot effect much injury. It kills the birds and devours the eggs, sucking without smashing them. In winter, too, it is very harmful to beehives, being fond of honey.

FIG. 15.—The Pine Marten (_Mustela martes_).
]

The =Ferret= (_Putorius furo_) is undoubtedly a short-legged variety of the common polecat, usually white in colour, and, when that is the case, red-eyed.

4. The =Stoat=, or =Ermine= (_Putorius erminea_). Body twelve inches, tail about three and a half inches long; slender; the body is scarcely broader than the head; tail longer than in the next species; summer fur, cinnamon brown above, white below; tail, cinnamon brown with black tip; winter fur quite white, but the end of the tail remains black. Mostly in fields, in the neighbourhood of plantations or woods; always abundant among sandhills, owing to the rabbits living there. The stoat usually follows its prey at night, stealing upon mice, rats, rabbits, hares, and song-birds; it is also sometimes very destructive in dove-cots and hen-houses. It must, however, be stated that the stoat is on the whole more useful than harmful.

5. The =Weasel= (_Putorius vulgaris_). Smaller than the stoat; head larger and thicker than the extremely slender, almost snake-like, trunk; legs short. The weasel is a very sharp little animal, and can easily pass along mouse-holes. Summer and winter coats alike—back brown, belly white. Its food chiefly consists of field-voles, also of rats and water-rats, young hares and rabbits, birds building near the ground, and also their eggs, which the weasel, by holding under its chin, manages to carry to its home; occasionally also lizards, blindworms, snakes, and frogs. The weasel does some damage in fowl-houses and dove-cots, and is also destructive to game. This, however, does not outweigh its very great use, since it is above all an untiring vole-catcher. When in any region the field-voles have multiplied excessively, an immigration of weasels takes place from surrounding parts. In years when there is a plague of voles the usual breeding time in spring is followed by another later on. A very large number of weasels may be found in a vole-infected district, and they thin out the mischievous rodents in a surprising manner. Nor are the weasels less useful in summer than in winter. They even follow under the snow the voles which winter in the country, and the slaughter effected at this period must exert a great influence on the following season, when these animals recommence their injurious work, and a pair of them that have survived the winter may perhaps produce two hundred others before the end of the summer.

6. The =Mink= (_Putorius lutreola_) is as large as a polecat, and may
be regarded as a sort of link between it and the others. Leg and ears
short; skin smooth-haired, brown both on the back and the belly; chin,
lips, and a small patch on the neck, white; tail about one-third the
length of the body. In well-watered regions on the banks of rivers,
lakes, and ponds. Eats water-rats, water-birds, frogs, salamanders,
fish, crayfish, water-insects, water-snails, and aquatic bivalves.
Holstein, Mecklenburg, Pomerania, Brandenburg, Silesia.

7. The =Otter= (_Lutra vulgaris_). Body flattened; legs short, with webbed toes; snout rounded; ears short, and can be closed by a fold of skin; tail flat, and pointed at its tip. Length of the body, twenty-eight to thirty-two inches; of the tail, fourteen to sixteen inches. Skin smooth-haired, shining dark brown above and below. Found on the banks of lakes, pools, ponds, rivers, brooks, etc., where fish is plentiful. It catches water-rats, ducks and geese, as well as their young, wild water-birds, frogs, fish, crayfish, water-insects. Especially destructive to fish.

8. The =Badger= (_Meles taxus_). Body heavy; legs short, plantigrade; toes with strong digging claws; snout pointed; canines not very large; both they and the carnassials much worn in old animals. Tuberculated molars well developed. The dentition and whole structure of the body show that the badger is not exclusively a flesh-eater. Length of body, three feet; weight, 22 to 33 lbs. Fur tolerably long-haired, yellowish whitey grey, mixed with black. Head with longitudinal stripes of black and white; tail short, yellowish grey.

The burrow is very large; several passages, the openings of which may be ninety-seven feet apart, lead to the exterior. The badger only leaves its dwelling in the evening. It eats mice, birds which nest on the ground, especially their eggs and young, snakes, frogs, cockchafer grubs, earthworms, insects; also turnips, carrots, acorns, and sweet fruits. Although it is both harmful and useful, the latter is more generally the case. Its digging habits, however, are sometimes destructive, since it throws up young trees and other plants by the roots. The badger often sleeps several days in succession during the winter, although it does not hibernate. Its fat is used up during the winter.

ORDER: =Insectivora= (INSECT-EATING MAMMALS).

Since the Insectivora feed upon very small animals (insects, worms, snails), they cannot themselves be large. Only those species (hedgehog) which feed on small mammals and birds or upon vegetable matter, in addition to insects, are of medium size. The native species all live on or in the ground. The snout is extremely slender, and does duty as an organ of touch. The eyes are usually very badly developed. Incisors sharp; and the back teeth, which are completely coated with enamel, are remarkable for their pointed crowns. When the mouth is closed the upper teeth fit into the spaces between the lower teeth, and _vice versâ_. Consequently the shutting of the mouth forces the points of all the back teeth into any insect which happens to be between the jaws. The Insectivora are plantigrade (p. 22). Here belong the following forms: the Shrews (_Sorex_), the Mole (_Talpa europæa_) and the Hedgehog (_Erinaceus europæus_).

FIG. 16.—Skull of the Mole.
]

The =Shrews= (_Sorex_) are small animals with a superficial resemblance to mice, with slender soft-haired bodies, small eyes, and tolerably long, thickly haired tails. Shrews are extremely voracious, eating daily more than their own weight of food, and destroying an enormous quantity of subterranean vermin. They live in underground passages, not usually made by themselves, but dug out by field-voles. They smell strongly of musk, secreted by two glands in the hinder part of the body.

The blackish brown Shrew-mouse, or =Common Shrew= (_Sorex vulgaris_), and the =Lesser Shrew= (_Sorex pygmœus_), only about two inches long, kill, in the cornfields, gardens, or woodland, an enormous quantity of noxious insects found in the earth, together with their larvæ; also snails and worms, and sometimes field-voles, and are in the highest degree serviceable. But the larger (up to 3½ inches long), black =Water Shrew= (_Sorex fodiens_), although serviceable on land in the same way as the other kinds, is very injurious to fishing and fish-breeding, since it devours the small fish and kills the larger ones, eating out their eyes and brains.

FIG. 17.—The Common Shrew (_Sorex vulgaris_).
]

The =Mole= (_Talpa europœa_). Body thick, cylindrical. Legs short, fore legs broad and spade-like, with broad digging claws. Eyes small, scarcely visible among the fur. No external ears; the auditory opening can be completely closed by a fold of skin. Shining black fur. The mole is found in every soil inhabited by insects and earthworms, provided it is not too stiff, but yet sufficiently coherent to dig passages in, which will not at once collapse. Its presence is known by the heaps which it throws up. The nest, however, is always found under a larger heap, frequently hidden under tree roots, walls, etc., though sometimes in the open field. It consists in the first place of a nearly round dwelling-chamber, softly upholstered with vegetable substances; this is surrounded by a labyrinth of passages. From the nest a passage runs to the mole’s hunting-ground. The walls of this passage of the labyrinth, and of the nest, are hard. The wider and subterranean channels, which the mole digs out when it is simply catching insects in the soil, easily fall in again, and the animal takes no pains to compact their walls. The highway to the hunting-ground, in which the animal can progress very rapidly, can be at once detected, not like the ordinary passages by a small chain of mole-hills composed of the thrown-up earth, but by a depression, since in its preparation the earth is laterally compressed and not thrown out. This tube is shorter or longer according as the hunting-ground is in the immediate neighbourhood or further off; it may be 100 or 160 feet long. The mole sleeps in the nest during the time not employed in seeking for food, and goes three times a day on the hunt for insects (early morning, midday, and before sunset in the evening). Having reached the subterranean hunting-ground, it tracks to some distance the insect larvæ, and worms found in the soil, being aided in this by its long snout. It daily devours more than its own weight. During summer the mole digs its passages near the surface, since larvæ and worms are then found in the uppermost layer of earth. In winter, when these withdraw into the depths of the soil, it digs much deeper channels. It does not fall into a winter-sleep. The young (three to seven) are born in May, June, or July. The mole never gnaws plants. It does service, sometimes very great, by eating many wireworms, grubs, snail embryos, earth caterpillars, mole-crickets, and other earth-inhabiting insects, as well as their larvæ. It also willingly eats earthworms, but whether this does good is not definitely known. But under certain conditions it may also do harm, rooting up plants as it makes its heaps. Grass and grain suffer little, if at all, by this; other plants more; while young flax-plants perish if their roots are loosened. Mole-hills in hayfields and cornfields are a nuisance at harvest time. Moles are not to be endured in the neighbourhood of dams, since their borings may become the immediate cause of flooding. Trapping may usefully be resorted to in cases where moles are harmful.

The =Hedgehog=, or =Hedgepig= (_Erinaceus europæus_). When danger threatens it rolls itself into a ball covered all over with prickles, and is in this way secured from the attacks of most enemies. The hedgehog goes on the hunt in the evening; while during the day it sleeps in its hiding-place, situated in such places as the side of a ditch, hedges, or under heaps of brushwood. It preys more particularly on field-voles, sometimes also on eggs and small birds (chickens occasionally), lizards, grass-snakes, adders (by the bites of which it is unaffected), frogs, cockchafers and their larvæ, field snails, earthworms, and similar small deer; now and then on fallen fruit and juicy plant roots.

ORDER: =Cheiroptera= (BATS).

FIG. 18.—Skeleton of a Bat.
]

All Bats, except a few tropical genera, feed on insects, and possess teeth like those of the preceding order of Mammals (p. 30). The leading feature is the characteristic modification of the fore limbs into a flying apparatus. The bones of the fore arm (Fig. 18, _u, r_), the metacarpels (_mc_), and the phalanges (except in the case of the thumb, which possesses a sharp claw (_p_)) are of great length; and between the long fingers, between the fore and hind limbs, and, last of all, between the two hind limbs there is an elastic membrane, serving both for flight and touch. Sight ill developed, since the bat is a nocturnal animal; a delicate sense of touch has its seat not only in the flying-membrane, but also in the skin of the ears, which are often very large, and in the membranous flaps which, in a few genera (the “leaf-nosed” bats), occur on the nose and lips. As is well known, bats sleep in the day; and they also hibernate in chimneys, hollow trees, ruins, and other similar places of concealment.

They principally devour night-flying moths, and spiders; and, since they use a great quantity of nourishment, are of great service, since the caterpillars of many of the species they destroy are very injurious to agriculture or forestry. About nine species live in Britain, but there is no use in enumerating them here.

ORDER: =Rodentia= (GNAWING MAMMALS).

FIG. 19.—Skull of Squirrel.
]

Two long incisors (Fig. 19), the crowns of which are continually being worn down, while a corresponding growth takes place at the root-end. These incisors are used for gnawing, in which process the lower jaw is rapidly moved backwards and forwards. Gnawing wears down these teeth less in front than behind, owing to the presence of a thick layer of enamel in the former position. Their crowns, therefore, maintain a chisel-edge. That the incisors never stop growing is clearly seen when the usual wearing down does not take place, as, _e.g._, when the lower jaw is placed obliquely under the upper jaw, or when a tooth is absent in one jaw, under which circumstances the corresponding incisor in the other jaw is not worn down. In such a case the incisors continue to grow, ultimately curving upwards or downwards, and becoming tusk-like structures (Fig. 20). The Rodents have no canines. In those Rodents which feed both on animal and vegetable food (the “Omnivora,” _e.g._ squirrel, common mouse, brown rat, etc.), the crowns of the back teeth are completely covered with enamel; in the purely vegetable feeders (“Herbivora,” _e.g._ hare, rabbit), they are compound teeth (p. 22). In most Rodents the hind feet are longer than the fore, giving a springing gait. Eyes large. Many forms have “cheek-pouches,” in which the food they obtain can be stored up for some time. When the pouches are full, a muscle contracts by which their ends are drawn backwards; they are emptied by the animal pressing them with its fore feet. The majority of Rodents are small, they are at most of medium size (hare). The majority of the species have great powers of reproduction, by which the injurious kinds are sometimes rendered a very great pest. The British forms injurious to agriculture principally belong to the families of hares, mice, and voles. The squirrel (_Sciurus vulgaris_), and the dormice (especially _Myoxus avellanarius_) are solely of importance in forestry.

Family: =Leporidæ= (_Hares and Rabbits_).

Skull somewhat long. Two small incisors behind the two large upper ones. Ears long and spoon-shaped. Upper lip cleft. Back teeth with enamel folds. Here belong the hare (_Lepus timidus_) and rabbit (_Lepus cuniculus_).

=Hare= (_Lepus timidus_). Ears longer than the head. Eyes yellowish brown. Fur rusty yellow to grey on the upper side, white on the under side. The doe litters in an open “form;” the young are born covered with hair and with open eyes. Mature animals breed four or even five times a year, producing two to four leverets each time. The hare is injurious to agriculture, eating cabbages, rape, turnips, clover, vetches, young corn plants, carrots, and grass. It also eats many weeds. It is, however, less injurious than the rabbit, for it does not burrow. The damage done by the hare is also less evident, since this restless, fastidious animal seldom feeds continuously in the same spot.

FIG. 20.—Abnormal Tooth in Hare.
]

=Rabbit= (_Lepus cuniculus_). Ears shorter than the head. Eyes dark brown. Fur yellowish brown to greyish yellow on the upper side, redder in front. Under fur bluish grey. Shape more compressed. The rabbit breeds more rapidly than the hare. Five to six times yearly the doe brings forth four to eight young, which, after six months, can again reproduce. Dwelling subterranean. Young, blind and hairless at birth. As the rabbit burrows, it is limited to certain districts, for the soil must not be too stiff and firm, nor, on the other hand, too light and incoherent. The rabbit is injurious in the same way as the hare, but the damage is more obvious (see above); and as a result of its burrowing habits it does infinitely more damage. Both in sandhills and in alluvial sandy soil rabbit burrows lead to the blowing away of material only held together by sand-plants. Kept down by shooting, netting, and ferreting (p. 27).

Family: =Muridæ= (_Mouse Family_).

The mouse-like animals (the larger species of the family are called “rats”) closely resemble the representatives of the following family, but are distinguished from these (the “voles”) by their slender body, longer legs, a more pointed head with longer always clearly visible ears, and usually, with the exception of the hamster, by a tail equal in length to the body. The hind legs are longer than the fore legs, hence the hopping mode of progression. Three back teeth on each side of each jaw, possessing a tuberculated crown completely covered with enamel.

FIG. 21.—The Hamster (_Cricetus frumentarius_).
]

The =Hamster= (_Cricetus frumentarius_).—The Hamster has
cheek-pouches, and a very short, thick, but short-haired tail. It
attains the size of the brown rat. Bright yellowish brown; belly and
legs black. The hamster is found almost exclusively on fertile soil
devoted to cultivation. It appears locally, and then for several years
in great abundance, so that it is often caught in tens or even
hundreds of thousands. Favourite food: wheat, field beans, and peas,
then rye and similar grain; and, last, roots, turnips, young corn
plants. Sometimes, too, the hamster eats animal food—worms, insects,
lizards, small birds, eggs, and mice. As a winter store it usually
only accumulates grain, beans, and peas in its hiding-place, often to
the amount of more than five gallons. A little heap of thrown-out soil
marks on the surface the position of its nest. The entry to this runs
vertically down into the soil. Six to twelve young, twice a year. The
dwellings of the hamster, which are situated in stubble-fields, can
easily be found; and by digging them up, particularly in spring and
late summer, when there are young ones, the number of these
destructive Rodents can be greatly reduced. May be caught in traps.

=Genus Mus= (Mice and Rats) includes Rodents without cheek-pouches, and with long, scaly, ringed tails. Two large species (“rats”) belong here, namely—

The common =Black Rat= (_M. rattus_), indigenous to Europe since pre-historic times, and the stronger, somewhat larger—

=Brown Rat= (_M. decumanus_), with greyish white belly (while the first-named species is black on the upper and only slightly brighter on the under side). The brown rat migrated during the first half of the eighteenth century from Asia into Russia, and about the same time from Further India to England by means of ships. Since then it has spread all over Europe and other parts of the world, and in many regions has quite driven out the black rat. Both kinds of rat eat almost everything, and are a pest in housekeeping, as well as in agriculture. They feed on insects, mice, eggs, and chickens, will even bite pieces from the living bodies of grown poultry and fattening swine, and also devour young geese and ducks. They eat grain, peas, beans, potatoes, carrots, turnips; bread, cheese, and similar provisions. Multiply very rapidly. Can be driven away by clacking-mills, and to a great extent by noise. Caught in traps.

Besides these, four mice belong here:—

The =Common Mouse= (_Mus musculus_). Back yellowish grey-black, gradually shading into a somewhat lighter tint on the under side.

FIG. 22.—The Long-tailed Field Mouse (_Mus sylvaticus_).
]

The =Wood Mouse=, or =Long-tailed Field Mouse= (_M. sylvaticus_). Back a brown shade of yellowish grey; belly white, sharply marked off; relatively very long hind legs, hence a hopping gait. The long-tailed field mouse penetrates tolerably far into woods, but is also found in plantations and gardens, sometimes also in quite treeless regions. On arable land it may adopt the habits of the field vole (p. 42), but as it does not multiply so rapidly is not nearly so injurious. It may also live either for a short time or permanently in houses, adopting the same habits as the common mouse.

The =Harvest Mouse= (_M. minutus_). Small, pretty; back yellowish brown red, belly of a sharply marked-off white. Lives in cornfields during the summer; in harvest time by the field-paths; during winter in barns and haystacks, but also in outdoor nests in the fields. Climbs among the grass and corn-haulms, and the small stems and branches of other plants, including shrubs, holding fast, not only by the feet, but also by the tail. Builds a beautiful spherical nest with a side entrance out of the haulms and leaves of grass and corn, or out of other leaves. Devours seeds, especially grain, oats being the favourite.

The =Corn Mouse= (_M. agrarius_). Back brownish red with longitudinal black stripes. In plains east of the Rhine. Usually local, but then very abundant. Chiefly in cornfields and fruitfields; digs holes in the soil. In autumn it often occurs in the field in large colonies. Food: grain, beans, peas, potatoes, turnips, carrots. In winter in the barns and dwelling-houses of farmers.

FIG. 23.—Upper Back Teeth of Brown Rat, seen from grinding surface.
]

FIG. 24.—Upper Back Teeth of Water Vole, seen from grinding surface.
]

Regarding the means of destroying those mice which are sometimes damaging to agriculture (_M. sylvaticus_ and _M. minutus_), see methods mentioned under “Field-vole” (p. 43).

Family: =Arvicolidæ= (_Vole Family_).

The large voles are also popularly called “rats,” the smaller ones “mice.” They closely resemble the true mice and rats (p. 38), but are distinguished from them by their plumper, more compressed body; a thicker head with blunt snout, and ears quite hidden in the fur; and a short, tolerably hairy tail, on which no rings of scales can be distinguished. There are on each side of each jaw three back teeth, of which each appears to consist of two rows of three-sided prisms, fused together along the middle line (cp. Figs. 24 and 23). The native species all belong to the genus _Arvicola_; the Bank Vole (_Arvicola glareolus_), the Water Rat, or Water Vole (_A. amphibius_), and the Short-tailed Field Mouse, or Field Vole (_A. agrestis_).

The brownish-red =Bank Vole= (_A. glareolus_) occurs in forests.

The =Water Rat=, or =Water Vole= (_A. amphibius_). Body six inches long, tail half the length of the body. Fur of one colour, brighter on the under side, varying from brownish grey to brownish black on the back, and from whitish to greyish black on the belly. On the banks of rivers, brooks, ditches, canals, etc.; also on damp low-lying meadows and fields. Digs much-branched passages in the soil; this often takes place in embankments to such an extent that it finally leads to their complete destruction. The vole also does damage in grass-fields and cornfields in the same way as the mole (p. 33). In its case, however, there is no compensating service. It certainly eats insects and worms, but its chief food is of vegetable nature; grain, potatoes, turnips, and carrots are devoured by it in large quantity, and in particular stored up in its hiding-place. It also destroys the roots of grass and corn, and eagerly devours chickens and the eggs of ducks and geese. A variety (_A. amphibius_, var. _terrestris_) occurs in dry soils, and is distinguished by its smaller size, lighter colour, and shorter tail. Its habits are the same as those of the ordinary form, but it is more given to attacking trees.

Traps, shooting, poisoning with celery stumps hollowed out and filled with phosphorus, or else with phosphorus paste.

The =Field Vole=, or =Short-tailed Field Mouse= (_A. agrestis_). A small animal, with dark brownish grey back and greyish white belly. [Lives in pastures, especially those which are low-lying and damp. Large numbers are found together, and they make deep burrows in the soil, each pair having a special nest to themselves. Three, four, or even more litters per year; four to ten young in each litter. Its favourite food consists of roots, young shoots of grass, etc., and the tender bark of shrubs, but nothing of vegetable nature comes amiss. Specially destructive in permanent pasture.]

REMEDIES. (_a_) _Preventive measures_. Protection of its natural enemies (weasel, stoat, polecat, fox, hedgehog, owls, buzzards, kestrels, the smaller seagulls). Catching in traps, etc., in the spring, when the voles are only present in small numbers.

(_b_) _Destructive measures_, which should be as generally used as possible in infested districts. If a field has been completely devastated, or the crop is over: (1) Working the soil with a spiked roller; (2) Partial inundation of the lower-lying fields. If it is desired to kill the voles and spare the crop as well, the following means may be recommended: (1) The digging of cylindrical holes six inches across and two feet deep, especially at the margins of the fields and in the furrows, as well as—at harvest time—on any footpaths that may be found. The voles fall into these holes, cannot get out again, and are starved. (2) The employment of poisons. (Care must be taken that no children or domestic animals are poisoned.) Phosphorus paste is best.

FIG. 25.—The Southern Field Vole (_Arvicola arvalis_).
]

The =Southern Field Vole= (_A. arvalis_) plays the same destructive
part on the Continent that the preceding form does here (Fig. 25).
_Remedies_—see above.

ORDER: =Ruminantia= (CUD-CHEWING MAMMALS).

The feet end in two hoof-covered toes, besides which two “after toes” are present. The upper incisors are absent, with few exceptions, but many deer have canines in the upper jaw. The back teeth of Ruminants are compound teeth. The lower jaw is smaller than the upper, and during chewing undergoes lateral movements, so that the plants taken in as food are ground up, as it were, into small pieces, between the projecting enamel ridges of the upper and lower back teeth. The stomach consists of four subdivisions; these are (1) the rumen, or paunch, where the greater part of the food and water taken collects; (2) the reticulum, or honey-comb stomach; (3) the psalterium, or manyplies; (4) the abomasum, reed, or rennet stomach. The last is the second largest part, and in it the same chemical changes take place as in the simple stomach of a non-ruminant. After the food has remained for some time in the paunch it passes up again through the gullet, and [as the “cud”] undergoes a second chewing. The soft mass resulting is once more swallowed, and passes into the psalterium and abomasum.

FIG. 26.—Skull of a Sheep.
]

Not only the families of _Tylopoda_ (Camels, Llamas), and _Camelopardalidæ_ (Giraffes), but also the large family of _Cavicornia_, to which, amongst others, the ox, sheep, and goat belong, will be passed over in this book. I need only mention the—

Family: =Cervidæ= (_Deer Family_).

Deer have branched horns, known as antlers. With the solitary exception of the reindeer, they are only found in the males. They are bony structures borne upon projecting knobs (horn cores) of the frontal lines. After each rutting-season the antlers are cast, new ones, clothed at first with a soft skin [the “velvet”], are developed. Before the next rutting-season the dermal part of the skin unites firmly with the underlying antler, and becomes itself ossified, while the epidermis shrivels up, partly peels off in bits, and is partly rubbed off by the animal against tree trunks. If the conditions of life (food, weather) are favourable, the animal acquires a new side branch to each antler every year, at any rate, so long as he continues to get bigger and stronger. The one-year-old male (“brocket”) has therefore a simple unbranched antler, the two-year-old (“spayad”) one side branch as well, the three-year-old (“sorel”) three points in all; the four-year-old (“staggard”) has four points; the five-year-old (“stag”) five, and so on.

FIG. 27.—Development of Roebuck Antlers.
]

In Britain two indigenous deer are found—the Red Deer (_Cervus elaphus_) and the Roebuck (_C. capreolus_); a third species, the Fallow Deer (_C. dama_), lives in South Europe and Asia Minor [and the exact date of its introduction into Britain is not known].

The =Red Deer= (_Cervus elaphus_). Six to seven feet long, and four feet high. Antlers rough and cylindrical for their entire length; each in its normal condition has two front branches [“brow” and “bez-tyne”], a middle branch [“tres”], and a “crown.” Tail small. Body of a brownish colour, becoming red in summer. A light yellowish brown spot on the tail. Male larger than the female, with long dark hairs on the neck during the breeding season (autumn). The young (“calves”) are spotted with white till their first change of coat in October. The hind brings forth one or rarely two calves in May or the beginning of June. The stag sheds his antlers at the end of February; the new ones are already full-grown in July. So long as they are growing the stag keeps to the low woods, and first seeks the high-lying forests when they are completed. He only leaves the forest for any length of time during the breeding season, but, wherever possible, comes to the field for a short time every evening to feed on cabbages, peas, beans, young corn, clover, lupines, grass, etc. Turnips, carrots, and potatoes, dug out of the ground by the fore legs, are also devoured. In this way red deer do a great deal of damage, not only directly in feeding, but also, to a larger extent, by trampling down the crops. In autumn and winter they chiefly feed on acorns, beechnuts, buds and young shoots of various trees. They also peel the bark from young trees, and often cause damage while rubbing the remains of the velvet from their antlers. Red deer are injurious to agriculture and forestry. Suitable fencing of fields, gardens, etc., to be protected.

The =Roebuck= (_Cervus capreolus_) measures up to three and a half feet long, and about two feet high. Antlers (Fig. 27) only slightly branched, and rough all over; beams and branches cylindrical. No brow-tynes, and usually only three branches. Tail extremely small and inconspicuous. Legs long and slender. Summer coat greyish brown, passing over to a reddish tint; the longer winter coat brownish grey. A whitish patch on the rump. The young (“fawns”) have at first white spots on a brownish ground.

Breeding season in August. The female (“doe”) brings forth her two fawns in May or June. The roebuck keeps principally to the lower and middle forests, especially in places where glades, rich in grass and herbage, and cornfields or meadows alternate with woodland. In the evening it comes out of the cover to eat in the fields and meadows; towards morning it withdraws again. The roebuck devours both young corn and corn in the ear; also ears of millet, beans, peas, clover, and lupines. It does not appear to touch potatoes and turnips. The bucks in particular do much mischief by trampling about in cornfields.

The =Fallow Deer= (_Cervus dama_) is about four feet long and three feet high; antlers rough and cylindrical only towards the root, with tolerably smooth, flat, shovel-like ends. Old individuals are pale brown, the summer coat is reddish and brightly spotted; belly whitish; a white patch on the tail. The young have sharply marked bright spots. In its habits this non-indigenous species agrees in many respects with the red deer, but changes its abode less. Towards evening it eagerly leaves the forest in order to seek its food in the cornfields. As the fallow deer lives in large herds its trampling does much damage.

ORDER: =Multungula= or =Pachydermata= (MANY-HOOFED OR THICK-SKINNED
MAMMALS).

Non-ruminating hoofed animals with thick, often callous, naked, or scantily haired, frequently bristly skin and with three to five toes, which, though they are not all developed to the same extent, are yet never rudimentary. The various species are very unlike one another as to food and dentition. Here belong domesticated swine, and a single species—formerly occurring wild in Britain—

The =Wild Boar= (_Sus scrofa_). On each foot four toes, of which the
two hinder are small and do not usually touch the ground. The wild
boar agrees in the general conformation of its body with the common
domesticated swine. Six incisors in upper and lower jaw; the lower
ones forwardly directed. The canines, which are more developed in
boars than sows, curve outwards and upwards in both jaws as “tusks.”
On each side of each jaw seven tuberculated back teeth completely
covered with enamel. Length of the body 5 feet 10 inches; length of
tail 1 foot 8 inches. Colour: black and rusty brown. The young ones
are white, spotted and striped with dark brown. The wild boar likes
damp, swampy, but at the same time thickly overgrown districts, where
it remains hidden in the day, only seeking the fields and meadows when
it has become dark and quite still. It then chiefly feeds on turnips,
carrots, and potatoes, rooting them out of the ground; it also devours
leguminous crops and grain, but treads down far more of these plants
than it eats. Besides this, it also feeds on acorns, beechnuts,
hazel-nuts, and truffles. The wild boar does some service by devouring
snails, worms, insect larvæ living in the soil, and also the pupæ of
destructive species of caterpillars, which occur in the same
situation; also voles. Thick hedges, in order to protect the corn from
injury.

ORDER: Solidungula (SINGLE-HOOFED MAMMALS),

to which the horse and the ass belong, need not be dealt with here; still less the other orders enumerated on p. 23.

CLASS II.: =AVES= (BIRDS).

Warm-blooded Vertebrates, which breathe by lungs, are covered with feathers, have no teeth but a horny beak, and lay hard-shelled eggs, which are hatched by the warmth of their body. They are adapted for movement in the air, though not all to the same degree. The fore limbs are modified into wings, in which, however, the parts found in Mammals can be recognized. We distinguish in the first place a small thumb, and then in most cases a two-jointed forefinger and a small second finger. _Secondary quills_ (Fig. 28, BB) are attached to the ulna, and _primary quills_ (A, 1–10) to the two metacarpals and the finger joints, while the thumb bears the bastard wing (C). The tail feathers, or _rectrices_, are attached to the last joint of the tail. The body is clothed with stiff, tolerably long _contour feathers_, which conceal the soft short _down_ from view. The bones are hollow and filled with air. Their cavities are connected with _air-sacs_, which are found in all parts of the body, and fill themselves with air from the lungs when the bird begins to fly. In this way its specific gravity is reduced. The body firm, especially the hinder part of it, which is almost immovable; the neck, which may consist of many vertebræ (even as many as twenty-two), can, on the contrary, be turned in many directions. Birds walk entirely on their toes; the metatarsals are fused with one of the rows of tarsals into a “_tarsus_” bone. Tarsus and toes are covered with horny scales.

A bird’s egg (Fig. 29) consists of a germinal disc (_h_) from which the young bird develops, and which rests on the yolk, made up of substances serving for the nutriment of the developing bird: the yellow (_a_) and the white (_b_) yolk, as well as the albumen (_c_, _c_^1, “white of egg”) in which lie two twisted cords (_chalazæ_),—finally of protective structures: the shell-membrane (_e_) and the calcareous shell (_f_); _g_ is the air-chamber.

FIG. 28.—Wing of the Buzzard.
]

FIG. 29.—A Bird’s Egg.
]

When the young escape from the egg, they are either able to at once look after themselves more or less, at least to look for their food,—in which case they can see and are clothed with feathers at hatching (_precocious young_; _e.g._ fowls, ducks, gulls, and pewits),—or the young remain some time in the nest, as they are, to begin with, both blind and naked, and in this case they are fed for some time by the parents (_nestlings_; _e.g._ birds of prey, sparrows, nightingales, pigeons). In the frigid and temperate zones most species of birds do not remain in their native country after the breeding season; those which go south in the autumn are termed _migrants_; while birds which do not migrate, but remain in the district where they have bred, are known as _residents_ (sparrow, jay, magpie). _Gipsy migrants_ execute more or less extensive wanderings, influenced by want of food or other causes (woodpecker, titmouse, golden-crested wren, tree-creeper). The travels of such birds are not, like those of migrants, undertaken at a definite time of year, or in definite directions (N., S.), but many of their species collect together in large flocks for the purpose of wandering, like migrants.

The following orders are usually distinguished:

FIG. 30.—The Eagle Owl (_Otus maximus_).
]

I. _Raptores_ (Birds of Prey), II. _Scansores_ (Climbers), III. _Passeres_ (Singing Birds), IV. _Gyrantes_ (Doves), V. _Rasores_ (Scratchers), VI. _Grallatores_ (Waders), VII. _Natatores_ (Swimmers), VIII. _Cursores_ (Running Birds).

The Order Cursores includes the ostrich-like birds, and will not here receive further notice.

ORDER: Raptores (BIRDS OF PREY).

Upper beak hooked, covered with a skin (_cere_) at its base; four toes possessing strong claws, and provided with pads in their under side (Fig. 31); wings powerful. Birds of prey live in pairs, and breed once a year in nests composed of pieces of wood and branches. The young are nestlings (p. 51). Sight keen. These birds feed almost exclusively on vertebrates, principally mammals and birds. An idea of their food can be gained by examination of their “pellets”—roundish balls composed of the indigestible parts of their food, and disgorged from twelve to twenty hours after feeding. Two groups are distinguished—_diurnal_ and _nocturnal_ birds of prey. The first (Figs. 31, 32) have a laterally flattened head, eyes directed laterally, and tolerably stiff feathers. The nocturnal forms (“owls,” Figs. 30, 33) have a large head, flattened in front, with large eyes facing to the front, soft plumage, and hair-like feathers on the toes, of which two are directed forwards, one backwards, and one outwards. The radiating feathers round the eye constitute a “veil.”

FIG. 31.—Head and Foot of Falcon.
]

Predominatingly harmful (from killing domestic mammals) are the following species occurring in Britain: the =Sea Eagle= (_Haliaëtus albicilla_), the =Golden Eagle= (_Aquila chrysaëtus_), the =Peregrine Falcon= (_Falco peregrinus_), the =Merlin= (_F. œsalon_), the =Hobby= (_F. subbuteo_), the =Sparrow Hawk= (_Accipiter nisus_), the =Kite= (_Milvus regalis_), the =Goshawk= (_Astur palumbarius_), the =Harriers= (_Circus cyaneus_ and _C. cinerarius_), and the =Honey Buzzard= (_Pernis apivorus_). The last effects damage by catching honey bees.

FIG. 32.—The Golden Eagle (_Aquila chrysaëtus_).
]

Useful in the main, being destroyers of field-voles, are the following: the =Kestrel= (_Falco tinnunculus_), the =Buzzard= (_Buteo vulgaris_), the =Barn Owl= (_Strix flammea_, Fig. 33), the =Brown Owl= (_S. aluco_), the =Little Owl= (_Athene noctua_), a casual, the =Short-eared= or =Woodcock Owl= (_Otus brachyotus_), the =Long-eared Owl= (_O. vulgaris_), and the =Eagle Owl= (_Otus maximus_, Fig. 30), a rare visitor.

A bird of prey cannot simply be classed as harmful or useful; a species mainly injurious may sometimes destroy a field vole or a destructive bird, while a useful species may sometimes attack domestic poultry. Game-preserving is destructive of almost all the indigenous diurnal birds of prey, and of the owls to a less extent.

ORDER: Scansores (CLIMBERS).

Birds with two toes directed forwards and two backwards. The young are nestlings. Here belong toucans, parrots, cuckoos, and woodpeckers. The first two groups are limited to the tropics; woodpeckers are only of importance in the culture of fruit trees and in forestry. I describe briefly—

FIG. 33.—The Barn Owl (_Strix flammea_).
]

The =Cuckoo= (_Cuculus canorus_, Fig. 34). Fourteen inches long, tail eight inches. The yellowish beak is slightly curved; feet yellow. Back blue-grey in old birds, brownish in young ones. Belly white with dark transverse lines. Ten tail quills, flecked with white. Shy; flies like a bird of prey. The female lays her eggs at intervals of about fourteen days, and cannot therefore hatch them out herself. She lays the egg on the ground, and then takes it in her bill to the nest of a small bird which feed its young with insects (wagtail, grasshopper warbler, nightingale, robin, lesser whitethroat, wren, lark). The cuckoo’s egg is generally hatched by the foster parent, and the true young often do not come out from the egg, owing to lack of warmth; or, if hatched, they are thrown out later on by the much larger, rapidly developing young cuckoo. Every cuckoo, therefore, is so far harmful that it costs the lives of several insect-eating birds. But it far more than compensates for this by destroying insects. It is especially beneficial to fruit-tree culture and forestry, since it eats an enormous number of caterpillars; but in late summer it comes frequently from the woodland into the fields, and then eats the caterpillars of the cabbage white, cabbage moth, and silver Y moth, surface caterpillars, and the larvæ of the turnip saw-fly. It also devours mole-crickets and (naturally in the spring) cockchafers.

FIG. 34.—The Cuckoo (_Cuculus canorus_).
]

ORDER: Passeres (PERCHING BIRDS).

This order is essentially constituted by all those birds with helpless young (p. 51), which do not belong to the two preceding orders or the one next following. Beak without a cere. Three toes forwardly, one backwardly directed.

Group: =Hirundinidæ= (_Swallows_).

With short flat beak, broad at the base, with gape extending far back, and triangular as seen from above. In flight the beak is opened as widely as possible, serving for catching insects. Wings long and pointed. Feet short and weak, entirely unsuited or only poorly adapted for walking; their chief use is to enable the swallow to hold fast to different objects. Swallows fly quickly and catch insects while on the wing. The insects on which they prey are generally unimportant to agriculture and forestry; but they may also do good by catching crane flies (_Tipula_), and ribbon-footed corn flies (_Chlorops_), which often fly about our fields in enormous swarms in order to lay their eggs. All swallows are migratory birds. There belong here—

1. True =Swallows= (_Hirundo_), with forked tails; three toes directed to the front, one to the back. Here may be reckoned—=Swallow= (_H. rustica_), always broods in sheltered spots, _e.g._ inside a stable, summer-house, or verandah; =House Martin= (_H. urbica_), nests against buildings, under the eaves for example; the =Sand Martin= (_H. riparia_), breeds in the neighbourhood of streams, especially in vertical banks of loamy or coherent sandy soil, where it makes its nest at the end of a passage a yard long. The =House Martin= is shining black on the back, white on the entire under surface and rump. The =Bank Martin= is brownish grey on the back, white on the under side, with brownish-grey bands on the breast.

2. =Swifts= (_Cypselus_), with forked tails and four strong, curved, forwardly directed claws. Only one British species belongs here—the =Swift= (_Cypselus apus_), ten inches long, brownish black except for white throat, and with very long curved wings.

3. =Night-jars= (_Caprimulgus_), with tail not forked, soft plumage, large head and eyes; fly at night. One species belongs here—the =Goatsucker= (_Caprimulgus europæus_, Fig. 35), twelve inches long, grey on the upper side, spotted with blackish brown and rusty yellow, yellowish whitey grey with dark wavy lines on the under side. In the day it flies awkwardly and heavily, and usually keeps under cover; by night it flies rapidly and boldly, especially in bare spots in woods, or in gardens and on fields. It haunts especially the neighbourhood of sheepfolds and cattle in the meadows, since it always finds flies and gnats there. It also catches cockchafers and various moths.

FIG. 35.—The Goatsucker (_Caprimulgus europæus_).
]

Group: =Magnirostres= (_Large-beaked Perching Birds_).

Beak strong, thick, often incurved near its apex. These birds eat almost all kinds of food, both animal and vegetable. Here belong Starlings and Raven-like Birds (crows, magpies, jays).

The =Starling= (_Sturnus vulgaris_).

Plumage black, with a violet sheen. The tips of the contour feathers, however, are white or bright yellowish. These white patches become so well marked after the autumn moult, that they almost completely cover the shining metallic black of the feathers. They gradually become smaller; in the next spring they are almost or entirely lost. Very serviceable. Devours, especially in autumn, many field snails, also cockchafer grubs, wireworms, grass caterpillars, grasshoppers, leaf-lice; also many insects destructive to fruit trees and forest trees. The starling, however, is able to do considerable damage to garden fruit trees, since it eats cherries, currants, and sometimes even pears. Starlings often settle on the backs of sheep and cows in order to pick off the vermin.

Genus: =Corvus= (_Crow-like Birds_).

Here belong—1. The =Jackdaw= (_C. monedula_), with relatively short beak and long tarsi. Black; side of the head and neck ashen grey. Breeds in holes in trees, chimneys, ruins, and towers. 2. The =Hooded Crow= (_G. cornix_); bright grey, except the head, throat, wings, and tail, which are black. Breeds in all parts of Europe east of the Elbe; occurs in Western Europe as a gipsy migrant in winter. 3. =Carrion Crow= (_C. corone_); black, beak stout and strongly bent at its end. Breeds in trees, but never (like the Rook) in large numbers together. 4. =Rook= (_C. frugilegus_); black, beak rather long; in adult specimens the head feathers are quite worn away at the base of the beak. 5. =Raven= (_C. corax_); much larger than the other species; black, beak very strong, strongly curved along its entire upper side. Nowhere in large numbers.

FIG. 36.—Head of Rook (_Corvus frugilegus_).
]

_Food, Benefit conferred, and Damage done._ Ravens, and sometimes even rooks, attack lambs and sick sheep, also ducks, geese, fowls, and pigeons. Carrion crows and hooded crows rarely attack our domestic animals. All crows, however, steal the eggs of our poultry. They also injure sport, since they kill hares and rabbits, young fawns, quails, pheasants, etc. They do a little good, however, by devouring field-voles, but, as a rule, only catch the sick ones which are not able to move quickly. They do harm by destroying useful insect-eating birds, also eating their eggs and young. But as insect-eaters, they are extremely useful; they devour cockchafers, wireworms, butterflies, surface caterpillars, crane flies and their larvæ, and field snails; also many earthworms. As to the vegetable part of their food, they devour, in the first place, germinating seeds; grain, peas, beans. They also pick grain from the ear, both when ripe and, to a larger extent, when still soft; and in doing this pull down the ear so as to crack the stalk, thus causing more damage than by the mere eating. They also plunder the ripening peas, and feast upon cherries, plums, apricots, and other juicy fruits; even potatoes and turnips. All crow-like birds do some harm and some good, only the raven (which eats scarcely any insects) is to be always reckoned as an enemy.

The =Magpie= (_Pica caudata_) and =Jay= (_Garrulus glandarius_) are resident birds closely related to the crows. The first affects open tracts of land (fields, meadows, gardens) in the neighbourhood of large trees; the latter is a woodland bird. Both birds eat almost everything: grain, acorns, beechnuts, cherries, berries; cockchafers, wireworms, and similar insects; the eggs and young of useful insect-eating song-birds (such as titmice), also these little birds themselves, ducklings and chickens, young partridges, quails, pheasants, now and then field-voles. More harmful than useful.

Group: =Conirostres= (_Conical_-_beaked Perching Birds_).