WCP2151

[1]

St. Andrews House

Ayr, N. B.

13th Augt 1879

My dear Sir,

I have just received yours¹ of the 11th inst. There is certainly no species or well-marked variety of mammal which is peculiar to the British Islands. Sorex rusticus. Jenyns = S. pygmaeus, Pallas + S. minutus, Linn. (the latter name having priority), is widely distributed throughout the Palaearctic Region. Lepus hibernicus, Yarrell = L. canescens, Nilsson, and is merely a low-ground variety of Lepus [2] variablilis Pallas; it occurs in the southern provinces of Sweden as well as in Ireland, and its principal peculiarity is that it rarely becomes white in winter. Two "species" of Arvicola have been supposed to be peculiar to Britain namely A. neglecta, Thompson and A. britannicus, De Selys, but they are both certainly identical with the common North European species A. agrestis, De Selys, and cannot be distinguished even as distinct varieties.

[3] You will find the references &c. to these synonyms in the second edition of Bell's "British Quadrupeds"²

I am, Dear Sir | yours very truly | Edward R. Alston³ [signature]