04 Protection of Wild Life in Yorkshire. 
liberating them in the church during the service. This caused 
the Vicar to have the mouth of the cave walled up, with the 
consequent destruction of its inhabitants. I do not, however, 
place much credence in this tale, as I am afraid the colony has 
been destroyed by collectors, one in particular. 
The native Black Rat, often called the old English Rat, 
practically disappeared, but, no doubt, reinforced by individ- 
uals from the Continent brought over in ships, it still maintains 
a precarious existence in. some of our sea-ports. In Hull 
especially it is fairly common.* 
The Squirrel is still fairly common in many parts of the 
county, and is, perhaps, in no immediate danger of exter- 
mination ; yet I am quite sure it is not nearly as plentiful as 
it was in my younger days. Its bad habit of nipping off the 
leading shoots of newly planted trees, frequently brings it 
into disgrace and trouble. 
In Clarke and Roebuck’s Handbook, three species of Bats 
are stated to have been recorded only once for the county ; 
which have since proved to be fairly numerous. They are the 
Whiskered Bat, a specimen of which I remember, once dropped 
out of a tree on to a table round which the members of our 
Vertebrate Section were seated, listening to the report of the 
work done during the day at one of the Grassington excursions. 
Natterers, or the Reddish Grey Bat which is particularly fond 
of woodland districts, where it is often found in the company 
of the Whiskered and Long-eared Bats. 
Leislers or Hairy Armed Bat, is so much like the Noctule 
as to leave no doubt in my mind that it has frequently been 
mistaken for that species. Daubenton’s Bat had not even one 
record to its credit. It is now recognised as a member of our 
county fauna. It is sometimes called the Water Bat from its 
habit of flying over water in search of its food. It may easily 
be overlooked as it flies so low, frequently just skimming the 
surface of the water. Investigation will probably show these 
Bats are much more plentiful than we at present realise, and 
other species will no doubt be added to the list. To the re- 
searches of Mr. Whitaker, of Barnsley, we are greatly indebted 
for our increased knowledge of the Bats of the county. His 
papers have appeared in The Naturalist. 
The Varying Hare has been introduced into Yorkshire, 
and is now extremely plentiful in certain localities, notably 
in the Marsden Moor district, as reported by Mr. H. B. Booth. 
The present craze by Zoologists for splitting up families 
and species into sub-species has given us an addition to our 
local fauna. The Yellow-necked Mouse, a variety really 

* Specimens are still often caught in the premises of one of the museums 
—Ep. 
Naturalist, 

