Volume 9 - Electric Scotland

THE LAND MAMMALS OF THE MORAY FIRTH AREA 141
varies a great deal in colour, having often a bright rufous
back with whitish, sometimes dun, under parts. Very often
they are dark coloured above, and may at first sight be
taken for Field Voles. Writing to Mr. Wm. Evans about
Edinburgh specimens of this species, Mr. Oldfield Thomas
"
said : I was quite doubtful as to whether they were agrestes
or glareolus, as they are so much less rufous than the latter
usually is." The same remark might be made about many
Elginshire examples.
The COMMON HARE (Lepus europceus} is now very
scarce. In many districts there are only one or two where
twenty could be seen thirty years ago. The MOUNTAIN
HARE (Lepus timidus]
is still found on all our higher hills,
but sometimes it comes down to 5oo-feet level in winter,
and to within a few miles of the sea. The RABBIT (Lepus
cuniculus) is plentiful in most districts. Black and spotted
ones are often seen among the wild ones.
UNGULATA.
The only real wild species now is the ROE (Capreolus
caprcea), and it is getting very scarce in many places where
it was common about the middle of the century. The RED
DEER 1 (Cervus elaphus) and FALLOW DEER (Cervus dama)
are kept in several parks and " forests." We have good
evidence that in former times two species of Bos, also the
Wild Boar, the Wolf, and Beaver, all existed in " Moray."
I am sorry to trespass on the space of the " Annals,"
but I fear a good many young naturalists are being misled
about the value of " species " in mammals. They must
understand that many of our British species are anatomically
perfectly distinct. For instance, the leg-bones of a
Weasel are all we need to distinguish
it from a Stoat. The
Weasel has the humerus longer than the femur, while in all
the other species of Mustelidae that I have examined the
humerus is shorter than the femur. There is as much
difference between the skeleton of a Pigmy Shrew and a
Common Shrew as there is between the skeleton of a
1
We regard the Red Deer to be in most cases a wild species in the
"Moray" area.
EDS.