104 DUBLIN NATURAL HISTOEY SOCIEir. 



NATUKAL HISTOEY NOTES ON THE MAMMALIA OP THE WEST COAST OF 

 CLAEE. BYE. J, pdOT, A. M., G. S, I. 



[Read April 3, 1862.] 



I BELIEVE there is no portion of Ireland hitherto less explored by or 

 known to the naturalist than the western coast of the county of Clare. 



The principal reason of this is its remoteness, as railway communi- 

 cation with other parts of the country only extends as far as Ennis, and 

 the crossing of Galway Bay depends entirely on the weather ; yet this 

 terra incognita, with its limestone mountains and towering sea cliffs, 

 presents objects of interest in almost every branch of natural history; 

 and good accommodation can be had at Miltown-Malbay, Lahinch, En- 

 nis timon, Lisdoonavarna, and Bally vaughan, places conveniently situ- 

 ated for the researches of the explorer. 



On previous occasions you have kindly listened to communications 

 of mine on the botany and marine zoology of Clare. I would now say 

 a few words on its mammalia. 



The horse-shoe bat {R. Iiipposideros). — To the communications al- 

 ready made by Dr. Kinahan and myself,* I will merely add, that after 

 searching almost every known cave, I had come to the conclusion that 

 the wild Burren district was unfrequented by these animals. I must 

 observe, however, that almost all the caves there are the mouths of 

 subterranean water courses, discharging often great floods in wet wea- 

 ther, especially during winter, and consequently not at all suited for 

 the hybernation of bats. JSTot long ago, I was informed that bats are 

 seen flying about in the summer evenings in the most exposed and un- 

 frequented parts of this Irish desert. The puzzle was, where did they 

 hybernate ? I came upon a cave, January 23, 1862, the entrance of 

 which is a conical hollow, about ten feet deep, in the flat surface of the 

 rock, all festooned with ivy, ferns, mosses, marchantia, &c. Arrived at 

 the bottom of this, I perceived a small horizontal passage ; and lighting 

 my candle (which I seldom go without at this time of year), I entered, 

 and, with little difficulty, found myself in a spacious chamber, hung with 

 fine stalactites, and with still finer stalagmites rising from the floor. 

 It was tolerably dry, and I soon perceived the droppings of bats in abun- 

 dance. After a long search in every nook and corner, I at last found 

 one specimen, a male, of our old friend, Rhinolophus Iiipposideros. There 

 were also numerous spiders and moths. This cave is eight miles north 

 of Vigo cave, the extreme point in this direction in which we obtained 

 this bat last year. A few days subsequently, I got another male in 

 Glencrawne cave, near Castletown. This extends its range considerably, 

 strengthening the probability of what I remarked as to its being the bat 

 of Clare. 



* Proceedings Nat. Hist. Soc, vol. il., pp. 152 et infra. 



