Gilbert White in the first description of this little animal as a British species
gives the measurements as 2 \ inches, tail 2 inches; whilst Mr. Rope1 gives the
average measurements of seven adults, irrespective of sex, a s : length of head and
body 2 inches 7^ lines; tail 2 inches 1 line; total length 4 inches 8£ lines, which
I find very correct. Gilbert White also states that two Harvest Mice just weighed
down a halfpenny piece, i.e. about one-eighth of an ounce. The cranial measurements
of this species are given in the plate.
D istribution.—Ranging over the greater part of Europe, except the extreme
north, and as far to the east as Western Asia, the Harvest Mouse is generally
considered to be a scarce and local resident in all countries in which it is found.
Doubtless it exists in many parts where it is still unknown, as its small size
and retiring habits cause it to escape the notice of all except expert observers.
This at any rate is the case in England and Scotland, where alone it is known
in our islands; but on the whole it may be regarded as generally but locally distributed
south of Aberdeenshire, though in Scotland it is much scarcer than in
England.
Montagu was the first to notice2 this species in England (Wiltshire); but for
the first description we are indebted to Gilbert White, who communicated8 his
discovery to Pennant, who in turn published his notes in his ‘ British Quadrupeds ’
(2nd edition). The Harvest Mouse has been noticed in the following counties,
the list being compiled from my own notes and those kindly lent to me by Mr.
Harting:
Lancashire (Byerley, Coward4), Cheshire (Coward and Newstead), and Shropshire
(Murdoch),6 Staffordshire (Garner and Masefield), Leicester (Horley and
Widdowson), Norfolk (Lubbock and Gurney),. Suffolk (Rope and Moor),
Cambridgeshire (Jenyns), Warwickshire (Tomes), Worcestershire (Hastings), Hertfordshire
(Bond), Essex (Laver), Kent (Collingwood), Sussex (Harting), Hampshire
(Gilbert White), Isle of Wight, Shanklin (A. G. More),6 Wiltshire (Montagu),
Gloucestershire (Knapp, Witchell), Devonshire (Montagu, Rowe, Bellamy, Parfitt),
and Cornwall (Couch and Rodd). With regard to its absence from Northamptonshire,
Mr. Lionel Adams writes to me: ‘ A week before his death the late Lord
Lilford informed me that he remembered the Harvest Mouse in Northants, which
is a valuable record of what I believe to be an extinct animal in this county.’
1 Zoologist February 1884, p. 59. 2 Trans. Linn. Soc. voL vii. p. 274. 3 Nat. Hist. Selbome, Letter xiii.
4 Mr. Coward says it occurs only sparingly in Lancashire and Cheshire, Zoologist, January 1896 ; ibid. 1895, p. 175.
* Zoologist, December 1895, p. 447. 6 A very doubtful record.