12 THE NATURALIST IN BBEMUDA. 



"Mus decumanus," says Mr. Hurdis, "swims and dives 

 remarkably well, eats fish, and almost anything else it 

 comes in contact with. My little boy was present with a 

 fishing party, when a large one was speared in the water. 

 I once witnessed confusion in their camp, arising from an 

 unusually high spring tide flooding the main ditch near the 

 Speaker's residence. The rats, driven from their holes by the 

 water, were running about like wild rabbits, and I bagged 

 no less than five large fellows, as food for a captive pere- 

 grine falcon in my possesion. They sometimes attain large 

 dimensions, and Mr. Fozard once sent me the largest speci- 

 men of the Norway rat I ever saw." May, in his account 

 of the shipwreck of Sir G-eorge Somers, states, that at that 

 date, A. D. 1609, no rats or mice were to be found in the 

 Bermudas. 



Bats may be considered as rarities, and are only ob- 

 served at a particular season of the year. We can- 

 not do better than introduce here a- few notes on this 

 animal, by our friend Mr. Hurdis : " Having for several 

 years noted in my journal the appearance of bats in the 

 Bermudas, and being convinced that the visits of those 

 animals are periodical, I record the following observations, 

 with a view of shewing upon what grounds this opinion 

 has been formed. 



" Bats are unknown in the Bermudas during the greater 

 portion of the year, and have never been known to breed 

 there. I have noted a solitary instance of one being cap- 

 tured at the close of August, in the year 1849 ; the 

 middle of September, however, is the season at which ; 

 they usually appear; from that period to the end of 

 December, these curious animals may occasionally be 



