306 A, KE. Verrill— The Bermuda Islands. 718 
Two species of bats are known to occur here apparently during 
their'autumnal migrations, but yet they may have been brought in 
the holds of vessels. Others may hereafter be observed. The most 
common is the Hoary or Gray Bat (Atalapha cinerea (Beauy.) 
Peters ; Allen,* p. 155, pl. xxix—-xxxi = Vespertilio pruinosus Say, 
and in Jones, 1876, and Hurdis= Lasiwrus cinereus in Jones, 1884). 
Several instances of the occurrence of this species are given by 
Hurdis and others, but only in autumn. 
The other, which is much more rare, is the Silver-haired Bat 
(Lasionyteris noctivagans (Lec.) Peters; Allen, 1893, p. 105, pl. xu; 
xiv=Scotophilus noctivagans in Jones, 1884). This was recorded 
as taken alive by Hurdis, Oct. 8, 1850. 
It is singular that there are no native bats known here, for the 
numerous caves would seein to afford excellent homes for them. 
Some of the earliest writers mention the occurrence of bats, but they 
were probably only the migratory species named above, though the 
season of the year was not given. Possibly there were resident 
species at that time. 
d.—The Wild or Half-wild Cats. 
In the accounts quoted above, Strachy, Hughes, and Governor 
Butler (pp. 712-715) describe the great abundance of feral cats that 
came out of the wood to the settlements, when the rats died out, as 
an unexpected and surprising event. They evidently believed that 
the cats had been on the islands before the settlement in 1612, and 
that they had been living there in the feral condition, feeding on the . 
rats. This may have been correct, and if so it would go to prove 
that the rats had also been there longer than was then supposed. 
It is mentioned that the party shipwrecked there in 1609 saved 
their ship dog and also some live hogs. (See Strachy’s account, 
quoted above.) Therefore they probably also saved their cats, if 
they had any, which is almost certain to have been the case. These 
cats escaping into the woods and increasing as they do there, might 
have given rise, in the nine years, to the large number observed in 
1618. Possibly cats may have been introduced still earlier, like the 
hogs, but we have no record of any being there in 1609. Doubtless 
the settlers carried cats there in 1612, and perhaps every year after- 
wards, so that their numbers need not have been surprising. 
* Harrison Allen, M.D., Monograph of the Bats of North America, Bulletin 
U.S. National Museum, No. 43, 1893. 
