254 RHINOLOPHID^— RHINOLOPHUS 



seem to be an error. Millais states that it has been recorded from 

 Durham and Northumberland, but it is evident that Ripon must, until 

 further details be forthcoming, be regarded as the most northerly limit 

 of its British range. The record by A. R. Young of its occurrence at 

 Crookston Castle, Renfrew, Scotland {New Stat. Ace. Renf., 1845, vii., 

 162), has not been confirmed (see Alston). 



In Ireland this species was first discovered by William King in 

 Galway in June 1858, and by Foot in Clare on loth March 1859. 

 The former obtained only one specimen {Proe. Dublin Univ. Zool. 

 and Bot. Ass., 15th April 1859, in Dublin Nat. Hist. Review, \\., 522- 

 525); but the latter adduced strong evidence to prove that it is 

 the common bat of the district around Ennis iProc. Dublin Nat. Hist. 

 Soc., 1st April 1859, in Dublin Nat. Hist. Reviezv, vi., 379-38 0-^ 

 These localities have since been confirmed for Clare by J. R. Kinahan 

 {Zoologist, 1861, 7617-7624), and Scharff {Irish Naturalist, 1902, 175), 

 and for Galway by More, by whom two specimens, taken at Coole 

 Park, near Gort, were presented to the Dublin Museum. The bat 

 has since been reported from Kerry by Hardy, who encountered 

 a large colony at Muckross Abbey in July 1885 (Kelsall, loc. cit., 

 92-93), and later from the same district by Forrest {in lit. of 3rd October 



1905)- 



As noticed under the preceding species, there is an old record, dating 



from 1845, of the occurrence of a leaf-nosed bat of uncertain species in 



Co. Westmeath : this, if substantiated, would antedate all other accounts 



of Horseshoe Bats in Ireland. 



Distribution in time : — The remains of this bat have not been 

 recognised in the fossil condition. 



The breeding season, period of gestation, and number of young 

 are, according to Rollinat and Trouessart, similar to those oi R.ferrum- 

 equinum (see under that species) ; except that, owing to later emergence 

 from hibernation, the young are not usually born so early, a fact which 

 corresponds with Whitaker's dissection of females containing embryos 

 nearly ready for birth on 14th and 24th July {Naturalist, March 

 1907, 74, and in lit.). Proger, however, saw young ones born in 

 South Wales about 20th June {in lit.). He has also once observed 

 spring courtship (see Proe. Cardiff Nat. Soc., March 1905, reprint. 5, 

 1906), but there is no evidence of consummation. 



As in R. ferrum-equinum, the males and females found in autumn 

 may be divided into three classes, according to their ages, as shown 

 by their genital organs, up to the third autumn. The authors conclude 

 that, although well-developed in this respect, neither sex pairs 

 until the third autumn, when they are nearly two and a half years old ; 



1 Jameson, Irish Naturalist, 1897, 36, gives the dates of occurrences differently, 

 but, as I think, incorrectly. 



