12 THE NATURALIST IN BERMUDA. 
“Mus decumanus,” says Mr. Hurdis, “ swims and dives 
remarkably well, eats fish, and almost anything else it 
comes in contact with. My little boy was present with a 
fishing party, when a large one was speared in the water. 
I once witnessed confusion in their camp, arising from an 
unusually high spring tide flooding the main ditch near the 
Speaker’s residence. The rats, driven from their holes by the 
water, were running about like wild rabbits, and I bagged 
no less than five large fellows, as food for a captive pere- 
erine falcon in my possesion. They sometimes attain large 
dimensions, and Mr. Fozard once sent me the largest speci- 
men of the Norway rat I ever saw.” May, in his account 
of the shipwreck of Sir George Somers, states, that at that 
date, A. D. 1609, no rats or mice were to be found in the 
Bermudas. 
Bats may be considered as rarities, and are only ob- 
served at a particular season of the year. We can-- 
not do better than introduce here a few notes on this 
animal, by our-friend Mr. Hurdis: “Having for several 
years noted in my journal the appearance of bats in the 
Bermudas, and being convinced that the visits of those 
animals are periodical, I record the following observations 
with a view of shewing upon what grounds this opinion 
has been formed. 
“ Bats are unknown in the Bermudas during the greater 
portion of the year, and have never been known to breed 
there. I have noted a solitary instance of one being cap- 
tured at the close of August, in the year 1849; the 
middle of September, however, is the season at which 
they usually appear; from that period to the end of 
December, these curious animals may occasionally be 
