RODENTIA.
Climbing Powers of the Long-tailed Field-Mouse.—In 1899 my friend Mr. C. Oldham contributed a note to 'The Zoologist' (p. 27) on the climbing powers of the Long-tailed Field-Mouse, in which he described its habit of using an old birds'-nest as a platform on which to eat the hips gathered from the wild rose trees, or acorns carried up from the ground. For some time before we captured a number of Long-tailed Field-Mice on these nests, we had been puzzled by the litter of gnawed kernels and pulp which filled the nests, and, although we made many enquiries, we could not find out that anyone had ascertained what species was responsible. A few days ago I was looking through a volume of children's poems—Mary Howitt's 'Sketches of Natural History,' 1834, and I came across the following verse in a poem on the Wood-Mouse:—
"In the Hedge-Sparrow's nest he sits,
When its summer brood is fled,
And picks the berries from the bough
Of the hawthorn overhead."
From the context it is perfectly clear that Mary Howitt refers to Mus sylvaticus. In nests, besides hips, we have found haws, seeds of the blackberry and holly, and stones of the sloe, from all of which the kernel has been extracted in a similar manner by chiselling off one end.—T.A. Coward (Bowdon, Cheshire).
The Coloration of the Variable Hare.—My friend Mr. Coward's note on the above subject (ante, p. 73) interested me not a little, especially in regard to some questions indirectly touched therein. Firstly, regarding the introduction of Scotch Hares into England or Wales, and the retention by them when in presumably milder surroundings of their original white winter coloration, I am aware of several similar instances. In fact, it may be taken as the rule, that when variable Hares are transferred from Scotland to some more southern country they will continue to assume their white winter coat, apparently to the same extent as when in their natural surroundings. Sooner or later, however, the habit is usually dropped, but I am in want of exact statistics as to the manner in which the change is effected. I am not aware, in fact, whether the originally transferred individuals gradually change less and less white in each succeeding season, or whether it is only in their progeny that the white colour ceases to appear. Mr. Coward's letter seems to supply a fact of interest in this connection, since he states that the Hares which formed the subject of his note are the descendants of some Perthshire animals which were exported about twenty years ago. In this case, unless, indeed, the climate of their new home is sufficiently severe to keep the white winter coat in constant use, we might perhaps assume that the loss of the winter coat may not be effected even after a
