INTRODUCTORY 



13 



British Fossil Vertebrata," and Harting's "British Animals 

 Extinct within Historic Times." 



The number of recent species (exclusive of the White 

 Cattle) hitherto recorded on satisfactory evidence for the 

 whole of Scotland is fifty-seven, which includes six additions 

 to Alston's 1880 catalogue, namely, two Bats (Vespertilio 

 nattereri and V. mystacinus) and four Cetaceans (Balcenop- 

 tera borealis, Grampus griseus, Lagenorhynchus albirostris, 

 and Delphinus delphis). Of these, forty-eight have valid 

 claims to a place in the present catalogue, and no fewer than 

 forty-six of them have occurred within the Forth area. This 

 is exclusive of Natterer's Bat, the record of which requires 

 confirmation. The Greenland or Harp Seal (Phoca green- 

 landica), and the Dormouse (Muscardinus avellanarius) 

 both perhaps less likely to occur have also been recorded, 

 but on insufficient evidence, and are consequently likewise 

 excluded. The details of the comparison are given in the 

 following table, which also contains the figures for the British 

 Isles as a whole : 



The number by which the Edinburgh list falls short of the 

 British is largely made up of Bats, while the deficiency, as 

 compared with the Scottish list, consists almost entirely of 



1 V. murinus, V. discolor, and V. dasycneme, being in all likelihood 

 mere importations, are excluded. 



