34 The Irish Naturalist. [Feb., 



THE BATS OF IRELAND. 



A Contribution to our Knowledge of their Distribution. 



BY H. LYSTER JAMESON, B.A. 



A FEW years ago I took up the study of the species of bats 

 which occur in Ireland, intending to retain my information 

 until I could present a fairly complete account of the dis- 

 tribution of at least the commoner species, rather than to 

 record ni}^ observations in a number of scattered notes. My 

 experience since then, and the consideration that this paper 

 may possibly draw out some data that are unknown to me, in 

 the correspondence columns of the Irish Naturalist, prompts 

 me to publish this list of records in its present incomplete 

 state, rather than to wait indefinitely for data that are not 

 forthcoming. 



It is more than possible that some already published records 

 may have been overlooked by me, but I have no doubt if such 

 is the case, my omissions will be corrected by the readers of 

 this Journal. 



It is much to be regretted that field naturalists have paid 

 so little attention to this group in Ireland, for we can hardly 

 boast of having advanced very much since Prof. Kinahan 

 wrote* " as a general rule every bat seen fiying about is put 

 down in the naturalist's book as the Pipistrelle." Records 

 of this kind are apt to be misleading and should be strongly 

 discouraged ; to say nothing of the fact, pointed out by 

 Kinahan, that the *' common bat" of parts of Clare seems to 

 be the Lesser Horse-shoe Bat. This careless method of 

 naming species led to the formerly frequent descriptions 

 and record of the Pipistrelle in Great Britain as " Vespertilio 

 7)iuri7iusr merely because V. murinus is the common bat of 

 some continental localities ! 



The difficulties of identification of species need not hinder 

 any observing naturalist from having a clear idea of at least 

 the generic distinctions, which would no doubt save many a 

 rare Vespertilio from being thrown away, or, worse, recorded as 

 Vesperugo pipistrellus. Even on the wing a sufficient amount 

 may often be seen to suggest to the collector that the specimen 

 is worth capturing, while the flight of Vesperugo Leislcri and 

 Vespertilio Daicbentonii are almost unmistakable. 



I Proc. Dub. Nat. Hist. Soc.y vol. I, p. 154. 



