Voles
Someone had dragged away a hawthorn that had been lying on the the ground since last autumn and had left the ground exposed. I stood looking at the decayed grass and the straws of corn that had accumu- lated under the bush, and noticed the little tracks and runs among the straw. They were too large for field-mice and too small for rats, if rats existed in the vicinity, and I took them to be the tunnels made by voles, those bright-eyed, round and furry little animals that manage to keep out of sight as effectively as the shrew. Last spring, when colour came on the water and I was forced to search for a worm, I moved a large boulder and exposed the tunnels and " nest " of a pair of voles. Two voles were in the chamber, which was just big enough to take them. After a second they scrambled away, following the open-sided runs without attempting to jump out. I replaced the boulder, doubtful whether they would come back, for they are as easily disturbed and as likely to, forsake a place as a hen pheasant once her nest has been found.
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