THE ZOOLOGIST 



FOR 1850. 



Bats flying by Day. — November 9th : shot a specimen of the noctule (Vespertilio 

 noctula) — the ' altivolans ' mentioned by Gilbert White, in those notes which are 

 beyond praise, as not seen after July. I have, however, seen them repeatedly through 

 the past autumn : and in the very middle of a glaring sun one hot day in August, 

 the pipistrelle was sporting and careering after gnats, apparently quite at his ease. 

 This was at Kenmore, in Scotland. — W. D. Crotch ; Taunton, Somerset, October 20, 

 1849. 



Hedgehog devouring Bees. — The following trait in the gastronomic propensities of 

 the hedgehog may I hope prove, if not practically useful, at least interesting to some 

 of the readers of the 'Zoologist.' A gentleman, who prided himself on the number 

 of his bees and the excellence of his honey, was much surprised and vexed to find 

 them diminishing daily, and that too without apparent cause : however, by long and 

 continued watching, the culprit — a fine hedgehog — was caught about daybreak, in 

 the act of scratching at the entrance of the hive, and devouring its ill-fated inha- 

 bitants as they emerged, their stings doubtless tickling his palate, and imparting a 

 piquant or curry-like flavour to his meal. The theft was proved beyond a doubt on 

 a post-mortem examination of the offender, who, freed from the ridiculous charge of 

 sucking cows, may, I hope, be pardoned the casual sin of an epicurean feast of bees, 

 — at all events more excusable than that of Arrius on nightingales. — Id. 



British Martens. — Some opinions have lately been given in the ' Zoologist ' 

 respecting the identity of the two species of marten found in Britain ; and Dr. 

 Morris (Zool. 2619) recommends an examination of the intestines, &c. May I be 

 allowed to call attention to Mr. Jenyns' paper on " Some of the smaller British 

 Mammalia," in the ' Annals and Magazine of Natural History,' vol. vii. page 262 ? 

 Mr. Jenyns there mentions receiving two young examples of Martes foina, having 

 still the milk teeth, and the bones of the cranium very loosely united ; yet even in 

 this young state the skull was larger and heavier than that of an adult specimen of 

 Martes abietum in the collection of Mr. Yarrell ; and moreover observes, that the 

 skulls of the two species in the possession of the latter gentleman present the same 

 differences of size, &c. He adds, " These individuals (M. foina) were of the same 

 size, and measured 17 inches in length, exclusive of the tail, which was not quite 

 9 inches. The length of the cranium was 3 inches 4 lines ; its breadth across the 

 zygomatic arches, 1 inch 1 lines ;. its weight, 4 drachms 38 grains." More exami- 

 nations of a like kind would probably decide the point. — Robert F. Tomes ; Welford, 

 Stratford-on-Avon, November 5, 1849. 



VIII B 



