248 THE ZOOLOGIST. 
In April, 1888, Mr. J. F. Darling captured a specimen of this 
Bat in the woods of Castlefreke, Co. Cork, the seat of Lord 
Carbury (Zool. 1888, p. 294). When first observed it was flying 
about in the sunshine, at 2 o’clock in the afternoon, and being 
observed to catch some prey, with which it alighted on a tree 
trunk, it was seen to be munching the body of a large moth, 
which it pushed into its mouth with its thumbs. 
Finally, there is a specimen of Natterer’s Bat in the British 
Museum (Natural History) which was procured in the Co. Long- 
ford, and presented by Mr. G. E. Dobson, the author of the 
excellent ‘ Catalogue of Chiroptera in the British Museum.’ As 
the dimensions and dentition of this Bat may be found described 
in this Catalogue, as well as in Bell’s work above quoted, it 
seems unnecessary here to repeat the description. Attention, 
however, may be particularly directed to the large size of the 
ear (about as long as the head), and to the long, narrow, lanceo- 
late tragus, which is about two-thirds the length of the auricle. 
Possibly some of our readers may be able to name localities 
for this Bat in some of the counties above mentioned, respecting 
which at the present time we are without information. 
THE PRODUCTION OF COLOUR IN BIRDS’ EGGS. 
By Artuur H. Macpuerson, B.A. 
THe last number of ‘The Zoologist’ contains a very 
interesting paper by Mr. A. H.S. Lucas, suggesting that the 
influence of the surroundings on the parent bird during the 
formation of the shell affects the colour of the egg. 
This “mental receptivity” is considered as a cause of 
variation, and the hypothesis ingeniously applied to many cases. 
But it seems to me that many difficulties arise. In the case of 
birds whose eggs vary very much, it is nearly as hard to explain 
the variations by the hypothesis of Mr. Lucas as by “ protective” 
or “sexual selection.” 
Take the stock instance of the Guillemot. We have here 
infinite variations in the colour and markings of the eggs. It is 
supposed that the same bird lays similar eggs each year; but it 
is, apparently, not known for certain whether the faculty of laying 
an egg of a given colour is hereditary, nor to what extent (if any) 
