418 Whitaker: The Hatry-Armed Bat. 
Time after time I have visited their customary haunts at dusk, 
on what seemed to me favourable evenings, and scarcely seen 
a bat. If the Noctule, which has been fairly well in evidence, 
be put out of count, I think I might safely say that for every bat 
to be seen this summer twenty might have been counted last. 
This leads one to fear that the cold, wet spell of weather, which 
was so protracted at the time when the bats should have been 
feeding well to make up for their long winter fast, took very 
heavy toll of their numbers. A Long-eared bat (P. auritus) 
obtained by Mr. Armitage in Edlington Wood, near Doncaster, 
early in June, was found to be in a most emaciated and starved 
condition, and died within a short time of its capture, apparently 
from weakness. I am strongly inclined to think that this only 
gives an indication of the fate of very many bats this season in 
the Barnsley district, and that a good many seasons more 
favourable to them than this has been must elapse before they 
will again become as abundant as they were in 1906. It would 
be difficult to estimate the relative extent to which the several 
species occurring here have suffered, but were I to hazard a 
guess, I should say the Noctules (and probably Leisler’s Bats 
also) have been least affected, and the Long-eared Bats have 
stood the season next best. The Pipistrelle (P. pzpistrellus) 
appears to have suffered greatly, and three is the largest number 
I have seen on the wing together during the whole summer, and 
that occurred where scores were flitting about at one time in 
previous seasons—and in many places where one could have 
relied on finding a few any fine evening in 1906, not a sign of 
them could be found in 1907. 
The Whiskered Bat (14/7. mystictnus) has certainly been 
scarce, but how much more so than usual I dare not guess, as 
it is almost indistinguishable from the last mentioned species 
when seen on the wing, while of Daubenton’s Bat (17. bauwbentzonz) 
I have not seen a single specimen all the summer. 
It is a great pity that these useful little creatures have 
suffered such diminution in point of numbers, and one can 
only hope that the next few seasons may be sufficiently favour- 
able to them to allow them to become as abundant as they were 
previously. Possibly the bat population in other parts of the 
country may not have suffered so much, but bats are very stay- 
at-home sorts of animals, migrating very little, if at all, and no 
one could well judge of their increase or decrease in any place 
who has not been constantly in the habit of observing them on 
the spot for several seasons 
Naturalist, 
