List of the Fauna of the County. 175
greatest enemies, the Short-eared Owl (Otus brachyotos)
being a great destroyer of them.7
Arvicola glareolus. Red Field Vole or Bank Vole.—This
vole is by no means common in Essex, according to my
experience, although the first recorded specimen as British
was described by Yarrell from an Essex example ('Proc.
Zool. Soc' 1832). I have seen a specimen from West
Bergholt and another from Layer-de-la-Hay, and I daresay
more might be found if observers would carefully examine
those voles they meet with. The habits of A. glareolus
appear to be similar to A. agrestis, but I think they are never
found in such damp situations as the Field Vole. The only
character to be entirely depended on to distinguish them is
in the teeth. Colour, length of tail, and brush at the end of
tail are uncertain marks in such a variable family, so that I
would advise no one to trust any of these singly in the
identification of specimens.
Rodentia. Leporidae.
Lepus timidus. Common Hare.—I shall say little about
this animal, as it must be so well known to everyone. It
occurs in all parts of the county, and is, from its manner of
feeding, a great pest to the corn-grower and gardener. Hares
vary much in weight : in this county from seven pounds to
7 [A passage occurs in the last edition of Yarrell's 'British Birds'
which illustrates these observations of Mr. Laver. Speaking of the
Short-eared Owl, the author remarks (Vol. i., 165):—" But undoubtedly
field-mice, and especially those of the short-tailed group, or voles, are its
chief objects of prey, and when these animals increase in an extraordinary
and unaccountable way, as they sometimes do, so as to become extremely
mischievous, owls, particularly of this species, flock to devour them.
Thus there are records of "a sore plague of strange mice" in Kent and
Essex in the year 1580 or 1581, and again in the county last mentioned
in 1648. In 1754 the same thing is said to have occurred in Hilgay, near
Downham Market, in Norfolk, while within the present century the Forest
of Dean, in Gloucestershire, and some parts of Scotland, have been simi-
larly infested. In all these cases owls are mentioned as thronging to the
spot and rendering the greatest service in extirpating the pests.'' 'History
of British Birds,' by William Yarrell. 4th Edition. London, 1872.—Ed.]