ZOOLOGICAL NOTES 53 



to secure one. A fine large dark-coloured male Noctule ( Vesperugo 

 noctula) was sent to me from Duffus near Elgin. It measured 3^ 

 inches head and body, and 2\ inches forearm. This is just the 

 size of my English spirit specimen. It was fat, and weighed i^ 

 ounce. This species may not be rare north of the Grampians, but 

 this is the first example I have seen here. Other three species are 

 fairly abundant in Morayshire, the Pipistrelle, Daubenton's Bat, and 

 the Long-eared Bat. WM. TAYLOR, Lhanbryde. 



[There are only a few known instances of this Bat being found in 

 Scotland, and this is the most northerly record of its occurrence in 

 the British Islands. EDS.] 



Black and Brown Water-Voles in the same Family. On i yth 



August last Mr. R. Ramsay, Fearnan, Loch Tay, sent me a family 

 of four young (half-grown) Water-Voles (Arvicola ampMbius) which 

 had been dug out of a hole in his hayfield. Three of them were 

 of the black variety, while the fourth was of the typical brown form. 

 They were sent as young " Black Rats," with the remark that 

 " strange to say one seems a broivn raf, but they were all in the 

 same nest." It would have been interesting to know what the 

 parents were like, but they were not captured, and no information 

 regarding them is forthcoming. WILLIAM EVANS, Edinburgh. 



The Length and Weight of Otters. Apropos of my article on 

 ' The Length and Weight of Otters,' which appeared in the " Annals " 

 (July, 1909), I am informed by the master of the Crowhurst Otter 

 Hounds that he killed a bitch Otter in September 1908 on the Rother 

 near Midhurst, which weighed 22 Ibs. with a total length of 45 J 

 inches, and which is the heaviest bitch Otter I have ever heard of. 

 His hounds also killed, on 2oth April this year at Hartfield, on the 

 Medway, a dog Otter of 28^ Ibs., which measured 5 i inches in length. 

 The Essex pack which killed the enormous 34 Ibs. dog Otter on the 

 tidal waters of the Deben in East Suffolk last year ( 1 908), as mentioned 

 in my article, have beaten this record by killing on the same river 

 near Kettleburgh, on 2oth September this year, an extremely fat old 

 dog Otter of 35 Ibs. whose total length, as measured with a 2-feet rule, 

 was 5 2 inches, whilst his carcase, minus pelt, mask, rudder, and pads, 

 actually weighed 24 Ibs., the normal weight of an adult dog Otter ! 

 On 8th September this year the Argyleshire and East of Scotland 

 Pack killed an exceptionally fine dog Otter in East Lothian, close to 

 where the Humbie Burn joins the Keith, which easily pulled down 

 the Salter's Spring Balance to its limit of 29 Ibs., and was undoubtedly 

 heavier than this. H. W. ROBINSON, of Lancaster. 



Some Rare Birds in Unst, Shetland. During several autumn 

 visits to the island of Unst, I have, among other birds, obtained the 

 following which, I trust, are worthy of record in the " Annals." 



GREENLAND REDPOLL (Acanthis hornemanni). One shot 



