NOTES AND QUERIES. 67 



little animal in great abundance in a ruined monastery in 

 Arragon, at the foot of the Pyrenees, in the summer of 1867, and 

 in smaller numbers in a similar locality at Potes, in the Province 

 of Santander, in 1876. I have also met with it in Switzerland. 

 This Bat is generally supposed to be uncommon in England, but 

 although I have at present no positive proof of the fact, I strongly 

 suspect that it occurs about Lilford. It generally flies lower than 

 any other Bat of my acquaintance, with a somewhat feeble and 

 hesitating flight. 



In conclusion, I may mention that, besides the species 

 mentioned above as occurring in our islands, I find that Lord 

 Clermont (on the authority, as I suppose, of Thomas Bell, 'Brit. 

 Quad.') admits six other species, viz., V. Bechsteinii, Desm., V. 

 Leisleii, Desm., V. discolor, Desm., V. Daubentonii, Desm., V. 

 emarginatus, Desm., and Plecotus hrevimanus, Bonap.* ; but the 

 simple truth is that very few English zoologists have studied, or 

 at all events published the results of their studies of our Bats, 

 and if my meagre remarks should induce any of your readers to 

 turn their attention to this subject, I will hope that we may 

 shortly have the benefit of "more light." 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



MAMMALIA. 



Young Otters in August.- -On the Idth August last I had two young 

 Otters sent nie by a friend, who had taken them the previous evening. 

 They were interesting on account of their very tender age, for I should 

 think they were not more than a day old, if so much. A gamekeeper said 

 he was sure they had " seen dayliglit " only a few hours, which was an error 

 of observation, as the little creatures were of course blind. The first thins 

 that struck me was their diminutive size, as they certainly were no larger 

 than an ordinary kitten at the time of birth ; in fact, I think I have seen 

 very young kittens larger and more robust than these tiny Otters wei'e, but 

 their webbed feet and thick tail were characteristics not to be overlooked 



■■'■ Plecotus brevimanus, Jeuyns, is now generally admitted to be merely 

 the 3'Oiing of Plecotus auritiis, Liuna;us. The nomenclature here adopted 

 from Lord Clermont's ' Guide to the Quadrupeds and Iteptiles of Europe' 

 (1859) stands in need of considerable revision, and cannot be regarded as 

 axtthoritative at the present day. — Ed. 



