( 475 ) 



NOTES AND QUERIES, 



MAMMALIA. 



CHIROPTERA. 



Death of a Whiskered Bat by Misadventure. — In spite of the adroit- 

 ness with which Bats avoid obstacles encountered in their rapid flight, and 

 the precision with which they thread their way among the branches and 

 foliage of trees, they are not exempt from occasional accidents. At the end 

 of last April, when walking along the margin of the mere at Siddington, I 

 saw a Whiskered Bat (Myotis mystacinus), as I thought, asleep and hanging 

 by its feet to a brier overhanging the water. A closer examination showed 

 that the wings were half open, and not folded closely to its sides as in sleep, 

 and that the Bat was not supported by its feet, but by a thorn which had 

 pierced the interfemoral membrane on the right side close to the extremity 

 of the tail. In its struggles to free itself, the Bat had lapped its tail tirmly 

 round the twig from which the thorn projected, and was thus held a fast 

 prisoner. When found it was alive but moribund, and a large portion of 

 the wing-membrane was already dry and shrivelled. It made a feeble but 

 unsuccessful attempt to drink some milk which I offered it, but died within 

 two hours of its release. — Chas. Oldham (Alderley Edge). 



AVES. 

 Is the Whinchat a Mimic ?— In confirmation of Mr. Robert Godfrey's 

 affirmative answer to this question respecting Fratincola rubetra in « The 

 Zoologist ' (ante, p. 267), I venture to quote the following from St. John's 

 1 Natural History and Sport in Moray' (p. 147):— "May 28th (1850). 

 The loch (Spynie) is full of Sedge Warblers now. I heard a most extra- 

 ordinary singing in some alders to-day ; at one time it was like a person 

 whistling, at another like a very sweet and full-toned Blackbird, but always 

 ending in a song like a Sedge Warbler. After watching it for some time, 

 we shot the bird, which turned out to be a Whinchat. I cannot under- 

 stand its note, quite unlike any bird that I ever heard." — F. Finn (Indian 

 Museum, Calcutta). 



Icterine Warbler and Buff-breasted Sandpiper in Norfolk. — It may 

 interest readers to know that on September 5th I secured an Icterine 

 Warbler (Hypolais icterina) in some scrub between Wells and Cromer, 



