Bolam: The Natural History of Hornsea Mere. 41 
but he regards the Polecat as ‘ about extinct now,’ and has 
not seen one for many years. 
Mus sylvaticus is of course common, and is here generally 
called ‘ the dormouse ’—the true Dormouse does not seem to 
occur here—but although I handled many they did not vary 
from the ordinary type. Water Voles are common, but by no 
means abundant, less so, in fact, than the common Brown Rat, 
of which Taylor’s traps in the woods, etc., were always pro- 
ducing a few, his persistence in killing these worst of all common 
“vermin ’ being worthy of all commendation, keepers too often 
regarding rat-catching as beneath their dignity. 
Field Voles and Bank Voles are both abundant, the latter 
seeming to delight in the dampness of the Low Wood, and in 
the borders of the swamps. The Water Shrew does not seem 
to be very common, as I only saw one or two, all of the black- 
and-white form. The Common Shrew is no doubt common, 
though I did not see it often, while some of those caught were 
unusually small specimens, scarcely larger than Sorex minutus. 
The latter appears to be rather common in the Low Wood, 
where I trapped several examples from time to time. Bats 
were numerous on the few fine nights we had, but I found 
great difficulty in procuring specimens for identification, Taylor 
having a great antipathy to destroying any harmless animal 
for what he considers mere caprice. The Noctule is fairly 
abundant: one or two were shot, and many frequently seen, 
but they were not much noticed till near the end of June. 
A small boy at the East Lodge, however, had one when I| 
arrived there on 20th April, which he had seen a sparrow pull 
out of the ivy and begin to worry on the ground, from which 
he rescued it; but it died, either from his rough handling or 
the sparrow’s. On ist July, I captured twenty-one Noctules 
—three others escaping—in a hole in a tree in which a star- 
ling had already reared its young. Ofthose caught fifteen were 
adult females and six more or less ‘ fledged’ young ones. 
Several of the females were on the verge of becoming mothers, 
while some of those to whom the young belonged were giving 
milk. There was no adult male in the colony. The majority 
of the captives were allowed to fly again, and others were put 
back into the hole, but the latter was afterwards deserted. 
Other colonies occurred in other places. The Pipistrelle is 
abundant, several being captured or killed. The Long-eared 
Bat is also probably common, a pair or two being seen from 
time to time about the trees, and one was shot. Daubenton’s 
Bat is numerous over the Mere, and is no doubt the species 
which inhabits the boat-house, though I was unable to capture 
an example there. Several were knocked down on different 
evenings over the water. There was another species of bat 
fairly numerous about the buildings at Wassand—where there 
1913 Jan.1. 
