Irish Mammals. 69 



the localities where the rarer Irish Bats have been obtained 

 is very meagre, and in very few cases has the author taken 

 the trouble to give the references for his statements. The 

 subject of the migration of Bats is barely touched upon (page 

 27), the words "the fact that Bats do migrate, either occasion- 

 ally or periodical!}', being well ascertained on the testimony 

 of several trustworthy observers," being a very inadequate 

 reference to so interesting a subject, with regard to which we 

 may note that, though we once tried to obtain information on 

 this subject by a correspondence with the light-keepers at 

 the light-stations on the Irish coast, we entirely failed to 

 obtain any valuable information as to the occurrence of Bats 

 at these stations. 



On the distribution of the Hedgehog (in Ireland) (page 58), 

 Mr. Lydekker has no more recent authority to quote than 

 Thompson for the statement that it "is found everywhere in 

 suitable localities." But, indeed, there is little w^ork to be 

 done with regard to the distribution of Irish mammals. 

 With the exception of the Bats, the Cetaceans, the Squirrel, 

 the Black Rat, and the Red deer, all our mammals are found 

 from north to south of the island, and many of the cases in 

 which their distribution is curtailed are due to the direct 

 agency of man. Referring to the depredations of Hedgehogs 

 among game-birds and their egg-stealing propensities, he pre- 

 sents us with the statements of two writers in the Field and 

 La7id and Water, without giving either their names or a 

 reference to the pages where their remarks occur, and then 

 goes on to announce triumphantly that " this evidence, 

 although circumstantial, appears to be pretty conclusive." 

 Although, no doubt, the Hedgehog is, on the whole, a 

 nocturnal animal, that this is not always the case we can testify 

 from personal experience, having found a Hedgehog moving 

 about in broad daylight in the Co. Wexford. It is a pity that 

 Mr. Lydekker has not given us any notes on the habits of the 

 Hedgehog in captivity — an omission which we have also to 

 regret in the case of many other species. 



Passing over the Mole, the Water-Shrew and the Common 

 Shrew, which are not found in Ireland, we find an exceed- 

 ingly short account of the I^esser Shrew, an interesting and 

 but little known mammal, which is the only representative of 

 its genus in our country. It appears to be widely distributed 



