424 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



male specimen entered my bed-room here by the window, which stood open 

 to the extent of about two inches at the top. I made every effort to secure 

 it, seeing that it was some uncommon species, but it was more than half-an- 

 hour before I succeeded, and then only by a novel expedient. It proved an 

 unusually large specimen. Its total length (tip of nose to end of tail) is 

 5£ in., weight f oz., and expanse of wing 14 in., thus equalling the ordinary 

 dimensions of the Noctule in this respect. In colour it certainly did not 

 answer to the description usually given of the Serotine. Nowhere was there 

 any appearance of the " deep chestnut-brown " which both Bell (Mammals, 

 p. 46) and Harting (Zool. 1891, p. 102) say usually distinguishes the 

 species. The back was of a dark blackish brown, but the fur was tipped 

 with yellowish grey, thus giving much the same " freckled " appearance as 

 the silvery-grey tips of the Barbastelle. The under parts were of a smoky- 

 grey. — Miller Christy (Pryors, Broomfield, Chelmsford). 



CETACEA. 



White-beaked Dolphin in Kilbrannan Sound, Arran.— On Sept. 1st 

 a female White-beaked Dolphin (Lagenorhynchus albirostris, Gray) was 

 captured in a singular manner off Dougarie, Arran, by John Galbraith, a 

 fisherman, of Carradale. It measured 9 ft. 8 in. in length, and contained 

 a foetus about 4 ft. long. It was fortunately secured for the Kelvingrove 

 Museum, Glasgow, by Dr. Dunlop, who, on Sept. 11th, furnished the 

 following account of its capture to the ' Glasgow Herald.' This is so in- 

 teresting that I think many readers of ' The Zoologist,' who do not see the 

 * Glasgow Herald,' may be glad to peruse the extract. On Sept. 25th the 

 same man caught in his drift-net, near the same spot, a male of the same 

 species, measuring 6 ft. 6 in. in length. This also was sent to the Kelvin- 

 grove Museum. From this and personal observations I am inclined to 

 think that the species is not quite so rare as has been supposed, but is 

 mistaken for a Porpoise, as specimens above mentioned were so called 

 by their captor. — John M. Campbell (Curator, Kelvingrove Museum, 

 Glasgow). 



The account given by Dr. James Dunlop is as follows : — " On Saturday, 

 Sept. 1st, at four o'clock in the morning, he drew his trawl-net at a point 

 rather more than a quarter of a mile from the Arran shore, opposite 

 Dougarie, a district in the island near to which the Duke of Hamilton has 

 a shooting-lodge. Just before the bag of the trawl net was got on board, it 

 felt heavy to draw, and by-and-by the large tail of what was then thought 

 to be an unusually big Porpoise was brought into view. With considerable 

 rapidity and no little skill, a rope was hitched round its tail, and the form of 

 the hitch was such that the stronger the pull upon the rope, the tighter the 

 hitch became. Besides, the shape, size, and position of the tail favoured 

 the non-slipping of the hitch. Getting the bag of the net rapidly on board, 



