A HISTORY OF STAFFORDSHIRE 



is very slight and when the weather becomes 

 mild this bat awakes and ventures out to prey 

 upon the few insects which are then abroad. 

 In different years I have seen it in flight 

 during each month from January to Decem- 

 ber. Mr. John R. B. Masefield has recorded 

 the receipt, in June 1893, of sixty-one pipis- 

 trelles from one of the lodges in Trentham 

 Park 1 a very large colony for this species. 



5. Natterer's Bat. Myotis nattereri, Leisler. 



Bell Vespertilio nattereri. 



Rare. One example only recorded. Of 

 this specimen the late Mr. Edwin Brown 

 wrote : ' Captured in the roof of Stapenhill 

 House some years ago, and is now in the 

 Burton Museum." This was in 1863, and 

 Burton does not now possess a museum. It 

 would be interesting to learn if this specimen 

 is still in existence, but up to the present I 

 have been unable to trace it. 



6. Daubenton's Bat. Myotis daubentoni, 



Leisler. 



Bell f^etptrtilit daubentonii. 

 Not common. Has occurred near Uttoxeter 

 (C. Oldham) and at Stafford (L. E. Adams). 

 In June, 1899, I saw two bats playing over 

 the water of the Trent at Drakelow Deeps, 

 which from their manner of touchine the 



O 



water, doubtless when taking gnats from the 



surface, and their silence whilst on the wing, 

 I imagine to have been of this species. On 

 the following evening I saw the same or 

 similar bats on the Derbyshire side of the 

 river which here forms the boundary between 

 the two counties, at the point where the 

 Leicester line bridge crosses the Trent. It 

 is probable that when more attention has been 

 directed to the habits of our local bats, Dau- 

 benton's bat will prove to be much less un- 

 common than is at present supposed to be the 

 case. 



7. Whiskered Bat. Myotis mystacinus, Leisler. 



Bell Vespertilio mystacinus. 

 First recorded for the county by Garner in 

 his Natural History of the County of Stafford 

 (1844), and again by Sir Oswald Mosley in 

 the Natural History of Tut bury (1863), appar- 

 ently from the same specimen captured near 

 Burton. This bat was for many years con- 

 sidered to be one of our rarest species. Of 

 late however many examples have been cap- 

 tured especially in the north of the county, 

 and in the Cheadle district Mr. Masefield 

 considers it the commonest bat. This is 

 however by no means the case near Burton 

 and south of the Trent, where, according to 

 my experience, a small almost black variety 

 of the pipistrelle is by far the most abundant 

 species. 



INSECTIVORA 



8. Hedgehog. Erinaceus europeeus, Linn. 

 Generally distributed and fairly common, 



though much persecuted by gamekeepers 

 because of its depredations on the eggs and 

 young of game birds. Rewards were formerly 

 given in Staffordshire for killing hedgehogs. 



9. Mole. Talpa europaea, Linn. 

 Common. 



10. Common Shrew. Sorex araneus, Linn. 

 Locally, Nurserow. 



Common everywhere in fields and hedge- 

 rows. 



11. Pigmy Shrew. Sorex minutus, Linn. 



Bell Sorex pygmteus. 



Far less common than the preceding. The 

 first local specimen was found dead near Con- 

 sail on 17 September, 1885, by Mr. E. W. 

 H. Blagg, and since then the remains of others 

 have been found by Mr. L. E. Adams in the 

 pellets disgorged by owls at Penkridge and 



near Stafford (reported by Mr. Masefield in 

 N.S.F.C. Reports, 1886, 1897). 



12. Water Shrew. Neomys fodiens, Pallas. 

 Bell Crossopus fodiens. 



Widely distributed in the county and not 

 uncommon. I have myself observed it at 

 various places in the Trent and in the Dove, 

 and on one occasion an individual was cap- 

 tured in the canal at Branston by a terrier 

 belonging to me and killed before there was 

 time for interference. This animal some- 

 times wanders far from any water. Thus on 

 1 8 August, 1899, 1 found an adult male speci- 

 men lying dead on the roadside between 

 Rolleston and Horninglow, and on the same 

 road the dead bodies of four common shrews. 



The oared shrew, which was formerly con- 

 sidered to be a distinct species, but is now 

 known to be merely an aged form of the 

 water shrew, is stated by Garner to have been 

 taken several times at Great Fenton and other 

 places in the county. 



1 North Staffordshire Naturalists' Field Club Report, 1894, p. 38. 



164 



