A HISTORY OF DURHAM 



in the same volume Mr. T. H. Nelson men- 

 tions that one was shot at the Flats, near Bishop 

 Auckland, in the summer of 1885. Mennell 

 and Perkins do not give the species, but the 

 bat taken at Cleadon in 1836 and referred to 

 in their catalogue as a serotine has been 

 examined in tlic Newcastle Museum by 

 Messrs. Roebuck and Southwell and found by 

 them to be a noctule {Zoologist, 1887). 



3. Pipistrelle. Piphtrellus pipistrellus^ Schreber. 



Bell — Scotofhilus fipistrellus. 



This species is common throughout the 

 county. 



4. Natterer's Bat. Myoth nattereri, Kuhl. 



Bell — VesperARo natureri. 



Mennell and Perkins record the taking of a 

 Natterer's bat ' on a tree in Hoffal Wood, 

 Durham,' on the authority of the late W. 

 Backhouse. I cannot hear of any subsequent 

 instance of the capture of this species in the 

 county. 



5. Dau ben ton's Bat. Myotis daubentoni, 



Leisler. 



Bell — yespcrtiFio daubcniomi. 

 VV. Backhouse, quoted by Mennell and 

 Perkins, reported the occurrence of this bat at 

 Darlington, apparently on good evidence. In 

 the same catalogue a white variety is men- 

 tioned, taken at 'Auckland St. Andrew, 

 Durham.' As the species is widely distributed 

 in Scotland and is also found in Yorkshire, 

 there is a strong probability that it occurs 

 fairly frequently in Durham. 



6. Whiskered Bat. Myothmyitacinus,'L€\^cr. 



Bell — Vespertllio mystacinus. 

 The whiskered bat is pretty generally dis- 

 tributed in Yorkshire (Roebuck and Clarke), 

 and has been taken several times in Cumber- 

 land (Zw/c^/j/, 1890). It is therefore probably 

 not rare in the county of Durham ; but the 

 only records I know of are those of W. Back- 

 house from ' Shotley Bridge (Darlington r),' 

 quoted in Mennell and Perkins' catalogue, and 

 the allusion in the Zoologist for 1888 to a 

 specimen from Durham. 



INSECTIVORA 



7. Hedgehog. Erlnaceus europitus, Linn. 



This animal is common in all the more 

 wooded parts of the county. 



8. Mole. Talpa europeea, Linn. 



Moles are as abundant here as elsewhere. 

 Varieties of a cream or silver-grey colour are 

 by no means uncommon, and I have records 

 of such from many parts of the county. These 

 varieties often have a more or less brilliant 

 tinge of orange on the under-side and flanks. 

 Several instances of this have been reported 

 from Winlaton by Mr. Thos. Thompson, and 

 a silver-grey mole with the orange tinge was 

 sent to the Newcastle Museum in 1903 from 

 the Woodlands, Consett, by Mr. W. B. van 

 Haansbergen. 



9. Common Shrew. Sorex araneuSy Linn. 



This species is very abundant, as in all 

 parts of the country. 



10. Pigmy Shrew. Sorex minutuSy Pallas. 

 Bell — Sorex pygmaus. 



The only positive evidence of the occur- 



rence of the pigmy shrew that I have been 

 able to find is that afforded by a specimen in 

 the Newcastle Museum. This is labelled as 

 having been taken at St. John's, Wolsingham, 

 by Wm. Backhouse ; it was sent by him to 

 John Hancock about 1850. The species is 

 probably not so scarce as the absence of further 

 records might suggest. 



II. Water Shrew. Neomys fodiens, FzWas. 

 Bell — Crossopus fodiens. 

 This species is probably distributed gene- 

 rally through the county on quiet streams 

 and ponds, but is not often noticed, as is fre- 

 quently the case where it is quite common. 

 Mennell and Perkins gave records from Castle 

 Eden and Darlington ; Mr. R. Lofthouse 

 mentions it {Naturalist, 1887) as occurring on 

 the lower part of the Tees, and I have the 

 following additional records : — near Wolsing- 

 ham, common (W. Backhouse) ; Upper 

 Teesdale, fairly common (W. Walton) ; on a 

 pond close to the city of Durham (J. Culling- 

 ford) ; on the small * stells ' about Hartlepool 

 before these were built over (J. E. Robson). 



CARNIVORA 



12. Wild Cat. Felis catus, Linn. 



The wild cat held its ground in the county 

 of Durham down to considerably more recent 

 times than was the case in most parts Of Eng- 



land, as might have been expected from the 

 character of much of the district. Exact re- 

 cords arc, however, almost entirely wanting ; 

 but the fact stated by Canon Tristram, that it 



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