A FEW WORDS ON EUROPEAN BATS. 65 



making the announcement ; this was early in July, and a short 

 time afterwards I received several more of the same species from 

 under the roof of Pilton Church, which is a short quarter of a 

 mile from Lilford. I tried in vain to keep some of these Bats 

 alive, and sent two of them to the Eegent's Park Zoological 

 Gardens ; but they all declined to feed, three or four of mine died, 

 and were placed in spirits, and I liberated the survivors after a 

 few days' captivity. I never met with Natterer's Bat anywhere 

 but in the two localities above-mentioned ; it is said to occur in 

 Belgium, Eastern France, Germany, and other parts of Central 

 and Eastern Europe. 



Vespertilio serotinus, Desm. — Although I have never been able 

 hitherto to obtain the Serotine in Northamptonshire, I feel 

 certain that it occurs occasionally near Lilford ; but as its mode 

 of flight, general coloration, and make, very much resemble those 

 of the Noctule, to which species adult specimens approach in the 

 extent of wings, it is of course impossible to speak positively 

 without having handled and examined a freshly-killed specimen. 

 I have received specimens of this Bat from Sussex and Hampshire, 

 and found it to be common in various parts of France and Central 

 Spain. The Serotine, as far as my own observation goes, appears 

 addicted to hollow trees in preference to caves or buildings. I 

 saw some fifty or more of this species in a cage at the Jardin des 

 Plantes in 1867, and was assured that they had been taken from 

 old trees in the neighbourhood of Paris by wood-cutters. In 

 many parts of Eastern Germany this Bat appears to be common. 

 It flies high, and is very fast on wing. 



Vespertilio Schreibersii, Desm. — Many of this species were 

 brought to me alive from the caves and quarries near Syracuse 

 in April, 1874, and I knocked one down with a carriage-whip as 

 he flew in bright sunshine near the well-known Grotto del Cane, 

 at a short distance from Naples. I also caught four specimens 

 of this Bat with one of R. eurijalc in a dark chamber in 

 Pompeii ; this latter animal was devoured by the others as they 

 were carried in a handkerchief from the exhumed city to Torre 

 del Annunziata, where our yacht was lying. This is one of the 

 most common Bats in Southern Italy : I have also received it 

 from Genoa, and it is abundant in Southern Spain, es^iecially in 

 the neighbourhood of Seville. 



Vespertilio pipistrellus, Desm. — This little animal is the Com- 



