352 Daubentoris Bat. [Sess. 



burn a squib or ball of wetted gunpowder in the hole. Then 

 dig up the wasps while they are stupefied, and treat them as 

 before by mixing soil and water with the combs. Another 

 plan I have often adopted, and by means of which I can tell 

 very nearly the exact number of wasps in a nest, is as follows : 

 I go at night, after all the wasps are in, and stuff up the 

 hole with some grass. Then two or three quart bottles, about 

 one-third full of water, are buried with the top of the neck 

 nearly level with the ground, and as near to the entrance of 

 the nest as possible. Care should always be taken, if the hole 

 goes north, to dig on the south side, and vice, versd. After the 

 bottles are in, and the earth all level and smooth, I pull the 

 plug out of the hole and run. Next day, about midday, if 

 bright, I plug up the entrance to the nest, and it is surprising- 

 how quickly the bottles are filled. The wasps, on returning, 

 cannot find the entrance, and look about for some time, when 

 they find the necks of the bottles. If one goes in, it is all 

 right : the sound of that one takes in the others very quickly. 

 It is really wonderful how unhesitatingly they tumble into 

 the bottles, never to get out again. By this plan, in two days 

 you can get almost every wasp, and then you may count them 

 at your leisure. 



Vlll.—DAUBEN TON'S BAT. 



By Mr CHARLES CAMPBELL. 



(Bead March 23, 1898.) 



The Cheiroptera or Bats are the most curious, if not the most 

 interesting, group of mammals. Every one is familiar with 

 their shadowy forms, as they flit here and there, in ever 

 varying circles, in the twilight ; but where they have come 

 from, or where they disappear to when the twilight has 

 deepened into darkness, has always been to me somewhat of a 

 mystery. There are, I believe, twelve different species of bats 

 found in Britain, but only half that number have been re- 

 corded in Scotland. Even the distribution of these few in our 



