NOTES AND QUERIES. 187 



of grain and seed aboard. The rats which the ratcatcher caught on this 

 ship were all black ones, and he believes that there were none of the 

 ordinary brown ones there, for he never either caught or saw any, though he 

 says that he has seen both sorts together on other ships. They are very 

 fond of warmth, and remain on the ships, whatever the cargo may be. He 

 catches them in round cage-traps with a special kind of bait, but he would 

 not say what it was. The tail of the Black Eat is — so he says — always 

 half-an-inch longer than its body, and its ears are exceptionally thin. 

 They breed very freely. I remember that the man from whom I used to get 

 them in London told me that he used to catch them on the different ships 

 in the London Docks. — F. H. Mills (Red Hill, Beaumaris, Anglesea). 



Barbastelle in Northamptonshire. — A solitary specimen of the 

 Barbastelle, Synotus barbastellus (Keys. & Bias.), was found under the loose 

 bark of an old elm, at about twelve feet from the ground, near Pilton, Oundle, 

 on March 22nd, and was brought to me alive. This species is recorded by 

 Jenyns (Manual Brit. Vertebrates, 1835, p. 29) to have occurred in this 

 county, but the present is the first that has come into my possession therein. 

 I may mention that of the eight species of bats hitherto recorded as having 

 been found in Northamptonshire, I have now handled living specimens of 

 six. The remaining two not yet found by me are Vesper tilio daubentonii 

 and V. emarginatus. I have good reason to believe that the Serotine, Ves- 

 perugo serotinus, is to be found in our neighbourhood, but up to the present 

 I have no proof of its existence here. — Lilfokd (Lilford Hall, Oundle). 



Bearded Seal on the Norfolk Coast. — In my note on the above 

 occurrence (p. 82), I stated that " the mounted skeleton of this animal 

 would in due course be placed in the Cambridge Museum" of Zoology. 

 A letter which I have just received from Mr. Harmer, I regret to say, 

 necessitates the modification of this statement, for he informs me that the 

 skeleton is not complete enough to be worth articulation, but that the 

 separate bones will be kept there, and their origin properly recorded in the 

 Catalogue. — T. Southwell (Norwich). 



The Marten in Ireland: Corrigenda.— P. 136, Co. Meath,/or Dawes 

 read Dames, and so throughout the article ; Co. Wicklow, for Seeper read 

 Leeper. P. 137, Co. Carlow,/or P. W. Trim read P. W. Finn. P. 138, 

 Co, Wexford, delete young before Marten ; and for copse read open. P. 141, 

 Co. Galway, for Ahascough read Ahascragh. Correspondents should write 

 proper names more distinctly. 



BIRDS. 



Woodcock breeding in the Lake District.— If you will kindly allow 

 me, I would like to add a little to what has already been stated (pp. 112, 

 152) on Woodcocks breeding in the Lake District. Last year, in Isell 



