February, 1899.] 29 



THE NATURAL HISTORY OF IRISH BATS. 



BY N. H. ALCOCK, M.D. 



Preface. 



An attempt to give a connected account of the natural history 

 of the bats of Ireland is fraught with many difficulties. Not 

 only are the facts in the life-history of this most interesting 

 group of mammals difficult to observe, but the observers have 

 been few and far between ; and so, although the accounts given 

 by Kinahan (xi.) in 1859, and Jameson (x.) in 1897, contain 

 many valuable and interesting facts, and the masterly 

 " Catalogue of Chiroptera " by Dobson (iv.)in 1878 is a mode 

 of all that a systematic treatise ought to be, the sum total of 

 our information in this branch of zoology is lamentably small 

 and deficient. So much is this the case, that it is scarcely 

 possible to make any broad general statements about the Irish 

 bats with any degree of accuracy. Further, although there is a 

 certain degree of probability that most of these various species 

 do not differ widely in their structure and habits from each 

 other, yet it is more philosophical to ascertain the facts about 

 each separately, rather than infer, with more or less certainty, 

 that what is true of one is true of all, which, unfortunately, is 

 our only resource in many cases. 



It is not practicable, therefore, to give a full and complete 

 account of all the Irish species of bats at the present time. 

 But as many interesting observations are scattered widely 

 throughout various books and magazines on natural history, 

 a collection of these will at least show what remains to be 

 done, and may possibly stimulate our Irish naturalists to fill 

 up the gaps in our present knowledge* 



It has seemed desirable to write a short general introduction, 

 in order to answer briefly the many questions that one is 

 immediately asked about the structure, classification, and 

 habits of these animals. But, for the reasons given above, 

 many of the statements made, though probable enough, rest 

 on somewhat slender foundation, and must be regarded rather 

 as hints to the observer than as dogmatic statements of 

 ascertained facts. The various beautifully mythical tales that 



A 



