ARVICOLA AGRESTIS [_Short-tailed Field Mouse_].
Plentiful, and very destructive to young trees.
Like the last in appearance and habits. It is recognisable by its much longer tail.
Found along burnsides, and occasionally in ditches.
Not so frequently found as the last. The water shrew is very difficult to be taken. I never could manage to trap any of them. They baffled all my ingenuity. My only resource was the gun, and even with it I have often had enough to do. I have sat for from six to seven hours without moving, watching for an opportunity of shooting the water shrew, and been doomed to disappointment at last.
LEPUS TIMIDUS [_Common Hare or Maukins_].
Very plentiful in the low grounds. See pp. 106, 274.
LEPUS VARIABILIS [_Blue or Alpine Hare_].
This species is only to be met with in the hills and mountains, except when driven down by stress of weather. In very severe winters they occasionally descend in great numbers to the lower part of the county, at which time they are of a pure white.
Very plentiful, in every conceivable spot, from the rocky shore, the sandbank, the quarry hole, the stony cairn, the old dyke, the garden, the orchard, and the open field, to the thickest woods. White, black, cream coloured, stripped, and pied varieties, occur. See pp. 106, 275.
CERVUS ELAPHUS [_Stag, Red or Highland Deer_].
This, perhaps the fleetest, as he is the noblest of our wild animals, still holds his place in the county, though not now so numerous as he used to be.
The roe seems to be more widely distributed than the red deer; and whilst the latter usually inhabits the more sequestered heath, grassy dells, and wooded glens of the higher lands, the other is mostly found in the plantations and copses of the lower levels. See p. 106.
Stray individuals of this aquatic tribe pay us a visit now and then. They are common in Cromarty Firth.
DELPHINUS PHOCÆNA [_Porpoise or Sea Hog_].
This is another watery visitant, much more frequently seen than the seal.
DELPHINUS DELPHIS [_Striped Porpoise or Dolphin_].
A specimen of this beautiful porpoise was taken here in 1853.
DELPHINUS TURSIO [_Bottle-nosed Porpoise_].
This species is said to have been taken here, though there are some doubts as to the fact.