MAMMALS 



CHEIROPTERA 



According to the list of British mammals 

 given by Mr. Oldfield Thomas, F.R.S., in 

 the Zoologist, 1898, p. IOO, which is the latest 

 authoritative statement on the subject, twelve 

 or perhaps thirteen species of bats occur in the 

 British Islands. How many of these are in- 

 cluded in the fauna of Bucks is, I am sorry to 

 say, uncertain. The ground may however 

 be partially cleared by eliminating a few 

 species which may safely be said not to be 

 residents in the county, although owing to 

 their powers of flight stray individuals may at 

 any time appear within its borders, when they 

 would be (as said under similar circumstances 

 of birds) ' rare accidental visitors.' 



Those species therefore which are believed 

 not to be residents in the county are included 

 in square brackets, but are inserted in their 

 proper place in the following list. 



This plan is adhered to in printing the re- 

 maining orders of mammals as the most con- 

 venient. 



[Greater Horse-shoe Bat. Rhinolophus 

 ferrum-equinum, Schreber. 



Mr. (now the Rev.) J. E. Kelsall, in the 

 Zoologist, 1887, p. 89, remarks that the distri- 

 bution of the greater horse-shoe bat may be 

 summarized as ' England south of the Thames 

 (from Kent to Cornwall) and South Wales.' 

 The same observer recorded one in the Zoolo- 

 gist for 1884, p. 483, as having been shot about 

 1875 at the Oxford reservoir, which is actually 

 in Berks, about 7^ miles from the nearest 

 point of Bucks.] 



[Lesser Horse-shoe Bat. Rhinolophus 

 hipposiderus, Bechstein. 



The lesser horse-shoe bat does not appear 

 to occur (except as an accidental straggler) in 

 England to the south-east of Gloucestershire 

 and Warwickshire (Zoologist, 1887, p. 91). 

 The late Lord Lilford believed it to be more 

 common than generally supposed in south 

 Devon (ibid. p. 63).] 



I . Long-eared Bat. Plecotus auritus, Linn. 



The long-eared bat is probably of general 

 distribution throughout the county ; Mrs. 



Raikes reports it near Buckingham, and it 

 is extremely common in the neighbourhood 

 whence I write (Hambleden parish) ; there 

 is a colony in my barn, and I have obtained 

 specimens (here, and from the neighbouring 

 parish of Turville) in nearly every month of 

 the year, even December and January. Here- 

 abouts indeed it appears to be even more 

 numerous than the pipistrelle, which is cer- 

 tainly not the case at Great Marlow. The 

 long-eared bat has rather long hair, and the 

 underside is quite light coloured. When at 

 rest, the remarkable long ears can be folded 

 as it were on hinges, in two directions (i) 

 backwards, like a hood, so as to lie on the 

 neck and shoulders, when the curiously high, 

 semi-transparent tragus remains erect, and 

 forms a very good substitute for the ears 

 proper; and (2) sideways, in an outward 

 direction, like the folding of a fish's fin when 

 the tension on the anterior ray is relaxed. 



2. Barbastelle. Bar bast ella barbastellus, 



Schreber. 



Bell Barbastellus Jaubentonii. 

 Bonap. Barbastellus communis. 



The honour of securing the first recorded 

 Bucks specimen of this species must be divided 

 between three gentlemen, who, when at Mr. 

 F. H. Parrott's bungalow at Great Kimble 

 on 24 April 1904, in broad daylight about 

 3 o'clock on a beautiful sunny afternoon, 

 noticed a bat flopping about in so peculiarly 

 unsteady a fashion that Dr. J. C. Baker sug- 

 gested attempting its capture with a landing- 

 net. Mr. Parrott promptly produced one, 

 and Mr. L. Crouch successfully manipulated 

 it. Dr. Baker kindly took charge of the 

 captive and handed it to me the following 

 day. 



As bats with the peculiar floppy flight de- 

 scribed are not infrequent, it would seem 

 probable that the barbastelle is hardly a rare 

 species in Bucks. On n September 1904 I 

 was brought another specimen, caught behind 

 a window shutter at Ibstone House. 



The peculiar face of this species once seen 

 can never be again mistaken. The ears meet- 

 ing in the middle line with the inner edge 



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