THE SEROTINE. 203 



water in St. James's Park, but have never met with specimens 

 of the latter in Middlesex; notwithstanding the statement in 

 Jenyns's 'British Vertebrate Animals' (p. 22), that "it has 

 hitherto only occurred in the neighbourhood of London." 



The nearest point to the Metropolis at which the Serotine 

 has been found, we believe, is Dartford Heath, in Kent, where 

 many years ago specimens were obtained by the late Frederick 

 Bond. From the records which we have collected, it would 

 appear that it has been met with more frequently in Kent than 

 in any other county of England, and its range in this country, 

 so far as has been ascertained, seems to be entirely confined to 

 the south-eastern counties. At Folkestone it was discovered more 

 than forty years ago by Mr. H. N. Turner (Zool. 1847, p- 1635), 

 and Mr. G. Buckton secured specimens at Chartham Paper 

 Mills, near Canterbury. In September, 1874, we received from 

 Mr. William Borrer, of Cowfold, near Horsham, an example of the 

 Serotine which he had shot some years previously at Charlton, 

 near Dover, where at that time it appeared to be not uncommon. 



Mr. Borrer's notes on this species, which were communicated 

 to 'The Zoologist' (1874, p. 4126), are particularly interesting. 

 He says : — 



" The first specimen I ever saw was taken at Bonchurch, Isle of Wight, 

 and was sent me by my friend the Rev. A. C. Bury. On the evening of 

 the 10th July, 1851, whilst walking in a lane at Charlton, near Dover, 

 I saw a bat which I at once knew from its flight was of a species I never 

 before saw alive. The next evening I shot a male of this species, and the 

 night after, at the same place, a female ; and on the 21st, near Riverchurch, 

 in the same neighbourhood, another male, and I this night saw several 

 others of this species. They commenced their flight about a quarter before 

 nine, and at first they flew very low, hovering occasionally to catch some- 

 thing from the ends of the branches of the trees, in which act I shot the 

 first* As the night got on, they flew higher, and between 9.30 and 9.45 

 they flew altogether out of gunshot in height. On the 3rd August 

 I received from Mr. Gordon, of the Dover Museum, a half-grown one, 

 taken from a^hole in a tree near Waldershare, Dover; and in October, 

 1851, I received from him fifteen specimens alive, male and female. Of 

 these I turned ten into the roof of my house at Cowfold, Sussex, and saw 

 them careering round the house many evenings after. They generally flew 



* The late Frederick Bond informed us that he had watched the Serotine 

 taking moths off the blossoms of the blackthorn. 



1*3 



