The Annals 



of 



Scottish Natural History 



No. 35] 1900 [JULY 



NOTES ON THE LAND MAMMALS OF THE 

 MORAY FIRTH AREA. 



By WILLIAM TAYLOR. 



SINCE the publication of Messrs. Harvie- Brown and 

 Buckley's "Vertebrate Fauna of the Moray Basin" in 1895, 

 I do not know of a single species having been added to the 

 fauna, though exact localities for less common species have 

 been noted. 



CHIROPTERA. 



The COMMON BAT ( Vesperugo pipistrellus] is still abun- 

 dant and widely distributed. It varies in colour, for I 

 sometimes find specimens rather light brown, and rarely 

 nearly black. Though they infest houses less than they 

 did thirty or forty years ago, they can often be found in 

 clefts of rocks in wooded districts. DAUBENTON'S BAT 

 ( Vespertillio daubentoni) and the LONG-EARED BAT (Plecotus 

 auritus] are both occasionally found. I have seen but few 

 examples of them, and therefore cannot say whether they 

 vary in colour in this part of Scotland. I think one or two 

 more species of Bats may yet be found here. They should 

 be searched for along the rocky banks of rivers falling into 

 the Moray Firth, and sent for identification when the finder 

 has any doubt about them. 



35 B 



