4126 The Zoologist — September, 1874. 



Vespertilio serotinus. — The first specimen I ever saw was talien 

 at Bonchurch, Isle of Wight, aud was sent me by my friend the 

 Kev. C. A. Bury. On the evening of the 10th of July, ] 851, whilst 

 walking in a lane at Charlton, near Dover, I saw a bat which I at 

 once 'knew from its flight was of a species I never before saw alive. 

 The next evening I shot a male of this species, and the night after, 

 at the same place, a female; and on the 21st, near Riverchurch, in 

 the same neighbourhood, another male, and I this night saw several 

 others of this species. They commenced their flight about a quarter 

 before nine, and at first they flew very low, hovering occasionally 

 to catch something from the ends of the branches of the trees, in 

 which act 1 shot the first. As the night got on they flew higher, 

 and between 9.30 and 9.45 they flew altogether out of gun-shot in 

 height. On the 3rd of August I received from Mr. Gordon, of 

 the Dover Museum, a half-grown one, taken from a hole in a tree 

 near Waldershare, Dover; and in October, 1851, I received from 

 the aforesaid Mr. Gordon fifteen specimens alive, male and female : 

 of these I turned ten into the roof of my house at Cowfold, Sussex, 

 and saw them careering round the house many evenings after. 

 They generally flew very high, their flight and manner on the wing 

 much resembling those of the swift, especially in the habit of 

 occasionally turning half over, with their wings extended and 

 motionless. In April, 1852, three or four only appeared, and these 

 I saw most evenings, till, in July, I left home for a month, and 

 I saw no more of them till the 3 1st of October, when a pair were 

 again flying about my house. This species seems to be especially 

 savage when handled, and will bite most severely if they have a 

 chance. I could not make them take any food in confinement. 

 These were all taken from the old clock-tower at Waldershare, the 

 seat of the Earl of Guildford. After the last-mentioned date I saw 

 them no more at Cowfold ; but in June, 1870 or 1871 (for I have no 

 note) I found that they had become common at Henfield, five miles 

 south of Cowfold, where they appear to have remained ever since, 

 probably inhabiting the church, as they are generally flying about 

 some old trees in a meadow near. As I studied bats for many years at 

 Henfield, aud was a close observer, I feel certain that the Serotine 

 was not there thirty years ago, and I cannot avoid the conclusion 

 that they are my bats migrated in a body from Cowfold. 



Vespertilio murinus I have never met with, nor with V. Bech- 

 steinii. 



