MAMMALS 



The ' flittermoiise ' ' is abundant and 

 generally distributed in the county. In some 

 districts it is the commonest of the bats, but 

 in others this distinction belongs to the long- 

 eared bat. With the exception of January 

 we have seen bats of this species on the wing 

 during every month of the year, and they 

 may often be seen during bright sunshine. 

 The pipistrelle is fond of hibernating in the 

 summer blinds that protect the windows of 

 Warnham Court, and we have seen a perfect 

 shower of these bats when they were lowered 

 in the spring time. This bat may be easily 

 caught by attracting it with a looking-glass 

 or reflector. Both P. pipiurellus and Plecotus 

 auritus will take ir. oths and insects from 

 flowers, alighting upon them to do so, and 

 we have known both species to settle by day 

 on cowdung and pick ofF the red flies. 



7. Bechstein's Bat. Myotis bechsteini, Leisl. 



Bell — Fesperlilio bechstemlt. 

 An old male of this species was shot by 

 Mr. Ruskin Butterfield near Normanhurst, 

 Battle, on July 28, 1896, and its identification 

 was confirmed by the late Sir William H. 

 Flower. The specimen is now in the Hast- 

 ings Museum, and is the only one hitherto 

 recognized in Sussex. The true position and 

 shape of the ears of this rare species was the 

 subject of a paper by Mr. J. G. Millais read 

 before the Zoological Society, June, 1901. 

 The ears of M. hechsteini are very large, and 

 in life stand up perpendicularly, and not at 

 an angle of 70° as in Bell's figure. Another 

 noticeable feature is the great width of the 

 gape. Two bats belonging to the late F. 

 Bond were caught at Preston near Brighton, 

 i860, and were described {Zoologist, 1888, p. 

 260) as Bechstein's bats. A recent inspection, 

 however, of the two specimens proves them 

 to be undoubtedly assignable to M. nattereri. 



8. Natterer's Bat. Myotis nattereri, Kuhl. 



Bell — VespertUio nattereri. 

 This bat is generally distributed in the 

 county, but apparently more numerous in the 

 western than in the eastern portion. Mr. J. 

 E. Harting has given the following localities 

 for Sussex in his article on the species {Zoologist, 

 1889, p. 241): Cowfold, Henfield, St. 

 Leonards Forest (W. Borrer) ; Balcombe, 

 Three Bridges (F. Bond) ; Poynings (Oxford 

 Museum) ; Midhurst, Nigh Woods, Rogate, 

 West Grinstead and Hellingly (Harting). Mr. 



1 Other Sussex names for bats are said to be 

 ' fluttermouse ' and ' flindermouse ' (cf. W. D. 

 Cooper, Provincialisms of Sussex, p. 19). 



Millais has also seen several and taken speci- 

 mens in the neighbourhood of Hawkins's 

 Pond, St. Leonards Forest. In east Sussex 

 Mr. Ruskin Butterfield has taken examples at 

 Battle, May 13, 1898 ; Rye (two young ones 

 from the walls of an old gateway), July 17, 

 1898 ; and Gucstling (from a hollow tree), 

 August I, 1900. 



Natterer's bat may be recognized by the 

 presence of hairs upon the feet, and by the 

 bristly margin to the interfemoral membrane 

 towards the tip. The fur on the underparts 

 is sometimes quite white, and when flying it 

 is not difficult to recognize on this account. 

 In west Sussex the species is sometimes 

 known as the ' forest bat,' but it shows a 

 great partiality for hawking above ponds and 

 lakes like M. daubentoni, though performing 

 its flight at a much greater elevation. 



9. Daubenton's Bat. Myotis daubentoni, Leisl. 



Bell — VespertUio daubentonii. 



The late Mr. W. Borrer examined speci- 

 mens taken near Preston, Brighton {Zoologist, 

 1889, p. 162), and these seem to be the only 

 bats of the species recorded for Sussex. One 

 was taken from a hollow tree near the powder- 

 mill ponds at Battle on May 21, 1 901, and 

 the same evening three others were observed 

 flying over the surface of the ponds (Ruskin 

 Butterfield). This bat may be easily dis- 

 tinguished on the wing by its persistent back- 

 ward and forward flight close to the surface 

 of ponds and streams, whence it will pick 

 the insects. In the hand it may be recog- 

 nized, as was pointed out by Mr. W. E. 

 de Winton, by the circumstance that the 

 'spur' runs three-quarters of the distance to 

 the tail, and there is always a notch at the 

 end. 



The species is probably more local than 

 rare in the county. Specimens of Dauben- 

 ton's bat taken by Mr. J. G. Millais were 

 found to be infested by a very large red 

 parasite which he did not notice as affecting 

 bats of other species found in the same cave. 



10. Whiskered Bat. Myotis mystacinus, Leisl. 



Bell — VespertUio mystacinus. 

 This species is probably generally dis- 

 tributed and not uncommon in the county, 

 although it does not seem to have been 

 noticed by many observers. An adult skin 

 in the British Museum is marked ' Hastings ' 

 {Brit. Mus. Cat. Chiroptera, p. 315), and 

 Mr. Borrer has recorded others from Cowfold 

 and Lindfield {Zoologist, 1874, p. 4128) ; also 

 Mr. Pratt received several from Horsham in 



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