1911. A^ofes. 115 



NOTES. 



ZOOLOGY. 



Hibernation of Leisler's Bat. 



A Hairy-armed Bat {Nyctalus Leisleri) which was caught in a green- 

 house in Co. Wexford on the morning of April 27th, was forwarded to 

 me aHve by post, and reached me on the morning of the 28th in that state 

 of hibernatory slumber which bats so often assume during a railway 

 journey. This bat, however, instead of waking up towards evening, 

 continued to hibernate during the whole of the 28th, 29th, and 30th of 

 April, and it was not until a few minutes after sunset on the evening of 

 the 1st of May that, hearing a little stir in its box, I looked in, and found 

 the animal returning to active.life. As soon as it was sufficiently wakened, 

 I gave it its liberty, and let it fly off to catch insects for itself. The 

 thermometer during the three days when the bat did not wake had reached 

 temperatures of 56-5° Fahr., on the 28th, S/'j" on the 29th, and 57 •4° on 

 the 30th of April, while the temperatures at 9 p.m. (" Daily Express " 

 records) were respectively 43-4'', 47-5^, and 4g-y°. On May ist, when 

 the hibernation ended, the maximum was 58-2'^, and the temperature at 

 9 p.m. 52 •7° Fahr. In a paper on this bat (/.AT., vol. ix., p. 240), I stated 

 that I had never seen it flying numerously when the day's maximum had 

 been below 56°; but the conduct of the animal recently under notice shows 

 that some individuals will continue to hibernate through a temperature 



some two degrees higher. 



C. B. Moffat. 

 Dublin. 



The Nuthatch in Ireland. 



The Nuthatch recorded by Mr. W. J. Williams (p. 95) as having been 

 observed by himself and others at Malahide is not absolutely the fiyst 

 bird of its species observed in a wild state in this country, for I remember 

 Mr. H. Lyster Jameson assuring me so long ago as 1894, that he had seen 

 a Nuthatch in a demesne in Co. Sligo, where it appeared to be thoroughly 

 at home. Mr. Jameson, however, realised that naturalists must ex- 

 perience grave difficulties in believing that a bird of such habits had 

 come unassisted into Ireland ; and it was, I suppose, for that reason that 

 he did not record the occurrence. I think the same doubts must be 

 experienced with regard to the Nuthatch seen at Malahide. Scarcely 

 another bird on the British list can compare with this species in the 

 sedentariness of its habits. Even the narrow water of the Solent seems 

 to be an effective barrier against its passage to the Isle of Wight, though 

 it is common enough in parts of the Hampshire mainland. A still more 

 remarkable fact about it is the total absence of any record of its ever 

 having visited Heligoland during the long period covered by Herr Giitke's 

 exhaustive chronicle. I think the only other British land-birds^apart 

 from the very stationary Grouse — of which this can be said are the Dart- 

 ford Warbler and the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, and the fact of the 

 last-named falling into such a category seems to me a strong proof of 



