426 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



MAMMALIA. 



The Field Mouse of the Outer Hebrides. — I wish to slightly amend 

 my description of the Field Mouse of the Outer Hebrides (p. 369), and 

 prefer to call it a sub-species of Mus sylvaticus, as it is clearly the local 

 representative of that animal. The name will therefore be Mus sylvaticus 

 hebridensis. I shall in so naming it stand with the trinomialists ; but I see 

 no other course, for I hold that there must be some link to group the species 

 of the large genus Mus. Having neglected to mention the type, I now 

 select the first specimen in the table on p. 370, which is now in the 

 British Museum, Reg. No. 95, 10, 25, 1, collected and presented by 

 myself. — W. E. de Winton. 



The Field Mouse of the Outer Hebrides.— In the article by Mr. 

 W. E. de Winton (p. 369) upon this new variety of Mus sylvaticus, 

 he ignores the fact that it has already been described by me (Journ. 

 Birmingham Nat. Hist. Society, April, 1895, p. 135), and again briefly in 

 my observations on the fauna of St. Kilda (Zool. Aug. 1895, p. 281), from 

 a specimen taken from that out-of-the-way locality in May, 1894, and 

 forwarded upon my return to the Editor, and by him to Mr. Oldfield 

 Thomas. I think that at present no definite conclusion should be arrived 

 at until further specimens have been procured from various other islands 

 along the west coast and north of Scotland, including the Inner Hebrides, 

 Orkney, &c, as well as the adjacent mainland. Until this has been done 

 it seems rather premature to describe it as a new species. I append a copy 

 of my former note above referred to (Journ. Birm. Nat. Hist. Soc), which 

 ran as follows: — "The Common Mouse we trapped constantly; a slight 

 difference was noticed in its coloration from those found with us. Unfor- 

 tunately only one specimen of the Long-tailed Field Mouse was taken, this 

 being by far the most interesting of all our captures ; it is probably the 

 type resident in these islands, and differs from our ordinary form by the 

 adult having the fur on the back greyish-brown similar to the young of our 

 Long-tailed Field Mouse, instead of reddish-brown as in our adult type, and 

 on the belly the fur has a lovely pink shade insead of pure white. The 

 whole of the mice taken are now in the British Museum, and I might add 

 a supply of traps, &c, has been sent out by the authorities to secure, if 

 possible, further specimens. I hope in the future, if I am spared for 

 another visit, to be able to get additional specimens. The Outer Hebrides 

 are likewise being trapped to obtain, if possible, any intermediate forms." — 

 J. Steele Elliott (Dixon's Green, Dudley). 



Natterer's Bat in Yorkshire.— On August 9th Mr. Alfred Kebbell 

 kindly gave me a living specimen of V. nattereri, which had flown into his 

 house in this village on the previous evening. — Oxley Grabham (Flaxtou, 

 York). 



