NOTES AND QUERIES. 403 



Young Squirrels. — With reference to the notes on this subject in 

 ' The Zoologist ' for March and September, 1892 (p. 328), there can 

 be no doubt, it seems to me, that Squirrels breed much earlier in the 

 year than stated by Bell and Macgillivray in their respective Histories 

 of British Quadrupeds. In my ' Mammalian Fauna of the Edinburgh 

 District,' published recently, I ventured, on the strength of my own 

 limited experience (I was not then aware of Mr. Blagg's remarks and 

 your editorial note), to question the accuracy of the statements 

 of these authorities, and I am pleased to find that others have had 

 experience similar to mine. In 1890 I knew of a Squirrel's nest 

 containing well-grown young on 23rd April, and several other in- 

 stances of young in April have come under my notice in previous 

 years. An instance of young being found in a nest in this neighbour- 

 hood in the month of August is also known to me. From a dealer in 

 birds and other animals in this city (Mr. Dewar, St. Patrick Square), I 

 learn that he obtains young Squirrels almost every year from the South 

 of England, at the end of March or early in April, and that on the 

 last day of February in the present year, he saw in London three 

 quite small ones being suckled by a cat. I hope other readers of * The 

 Zoologist ' will record their experience on this interesting point. — 

 William Evans (18a, Morningside Park, Edinburgh). 



Daubenton's Bat caught with a Trout Fly. — On the evening of the 

 14th June, 1890, a gentleman, while fishing in Bracebridge Pool, 

 Sutton Coldfield, Warwickshire, with an artificial fly, hooked a Bat, 

 which, on being brought to me, proved to be VespertUio daubentonii. 

 On dissection it proved to be a female, and contained an almost fully 

 developed young one, which appeared to me to be of enormous size 

 when compared with the mother. — F. Coburn (7, Holloway Head, 

 Birmingham). 



The Serotine Bat in the Midlands. — After reading your description 

 of the Serotine (Vesperugo serotinus) in ' The Zoologist,' 1891 (pp. 201 

 — 205), I have little hesitation in stating that one specimen of this 

 bat has passed through my hands. Two or three years back a lady 

 gave me a bat which had been caught near her house, I believe at 

 Harborne, then in Staffordshire, but now the district is included in 

 the city of Birmingham. I was at the time convinced that the bat 

 was new to me, for the upper parts were of a rich dark chestnut- 

 brown, and the lower surface a pretty light gray, a variation in the 

 colouring which I had never before seen in any of our ordinary bats. 

 After skinning it, I put the specimen on one side, with the intention of 

 identifying it, but was exceedingly busy at the time and it was over- 

 looked. It has since disappeared, I know not where, for a recent 



