62 Cvaigmillar and its Environs, 



our having been in pursuit — we fired, but immediately 

 regretted doing so, as it would have been interesting 

 to see how he would have met the unexpected con- 

 tingency. 



Squirrels are also to be found in the district, 

 though, in the absence of pine woods, they are by no 

 means plentiful. 



Bats are numerous, but only three varieties — the 

 common, the long-eared, and Daubenton's bat — are 

 to be found in this locality. Some years ago, on 

 looking into a hole in a very large ash-tree at The 

 Inch, we discovered a cavity in the trunk of consider- 

 able size, the result of decay. A great number — if 

 not hundreds, certainly many dozens — of bats, from 

 a day old to adult size, were hanging by the hooked 

 claws on their wings to the soft rotten wood which 

 constituted the roof and sides of the cavity. Pocket- 

 ing a few of the largest of them, we proceeded to hand 

 them over to Mr Hope, naturalist, Edinburgh, but 

 found, ere his premises were reached, that one of them 

 had produced a family of five young. On the follow- 

 ing day another one produced seven young. It was 



