1 1 6 The Irish Naturalist. 



MAMMALS. 



The Reddish -grey Bat (Vespertlllo Nattereri, Kuhl) in Co. 



Gal way. — I have the pleasure of recording the capture of a male speci- 

 men of this rare bat in the demesne of Lord Clonbrock near Ahascreagh. 

 I was out in search of moths on the 9th April, and caught it with my 

 net. Noticing that its characters differed from the common Pipistrelle I 

 forwarded it to the Dublin Museum, thinking that it might be the 

 Whiskered Bat. The chief characters which distinguish V. Nattereri are 

 the fringe of bristles which clothe the margin of the membrane between 

 the point of the tail and the calcaneum (or spur which projects from the 

 heel of the hind foot to support this part of the membrane). The fur is 

 light reddish brown, lighter than all the British species, except Vespertilio 

 murinus. The head is considerably raised above the face line, and the 

 muzzle, which projects forward and somewhat upwards, is broad and 

 prominent at the corners over the nostrils. The ears are longer than 

 those of the Pipistrelle, and extend T L-inch at least beyond the end of the 

 nose, having a vertical outer lobe near the end of the outer margin well 

 developed. The tragus (or inner ear membrane, so well known in the 

 Long-eared Bat), is very long, narrow, and sub-acutely pointed. The 

 measurement of this male exceeds that given of a female in the British 

 Museum Catalogue, being of the head and body 2 inches, but the tail is 

 shorter, namely 1*5 inch. In England this species has a wide but local 

 distribution, and has occurred in church roofs as well as in a chalk pit 

 reached by an underground shaft 70 feet deep. They are very social in 

 their habits, and roost in masses clinging together for warmth. They 

 are also found in Central Europe and on the Adriatic and Mediterranean 

 littoral (Bell). 



Specimens have been taken at the Scalp, Co. Wicklow, in 1845, and in 

 Co. Longford by Mr. G. E. Dobson (Brit. Mus. Cat.) ; in Co. Donegal by 

 Mr. H. C. Hart, and at Dundalk by Mr. Jameson, whose notice of Irish 

 bats has recently appeared in this journal. — Wm. F. De V. Kane, 

 Drumreaske, Monaghan. 



The Marten in Ireland. — In the Zoologist for April, Messrs. G. E. 

 H. Barrett-Hamilton, Robert Patterson, and J. J. Dowling supplement 

 Mr. Harting's paper, in the previous month's issue, by notes of the occur- 

 rence of this animal in various parts of Ireland. Cavan, Louth, Limerick, 

 and Roscommon appear to be the only Irish counties from which the 

 Marten has not been recorded ; but the list of counties in which the 

 Marten is now extinct would undoubtedly be a much larger one. 



GEOLOGY. 

 Geological Photographs. — We have received from Mr. R. 

 Welch, Lonsdalestreet, Belfast, a copy of his Catalogue of Irish 

 Geological Photographs, a well printed pamphlet of 24 pages octavo. 

 We welcome this catalogue as being a useful and original piece of work, 

 and one which will be a boon to the student of Irish geology. Following 

 the negative-numbers and titles of the photographs, are terse descriptions 

 of the geological features exemplified in each, contributed by Professor 

 Grenville Cole, F.G.S. Even in the absence of the photographs, these 

 descriptive notes form interesting reading ; and when taken in conjunc- 

 tion with the views, which are all up to Mr. Welch's well-known high 

 standard of merit, the result is a production of much educational value. 

 The subjects catalogued include peat-bogs, sands and gravels, Boulder 

 clays, Cretaceous, Triassic, Carboniferous, Devonian, Silurian, and Cam- 

 brian strata ; dykes, lava-flows, faults, and foldings. A large series is 

 quoted illustrating denudation and erosion, and a second large series 

 exemplifies fully the many interesting features of the basaltic plateau of 

 Antrim. 



