204 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



very high, their flight and manner on the wing much resembling those of 

 the Swift, especially the habit of occasionally turning half over, with their 

 wings extended and motionless. In April, 1852, three or four only appeared, 

 and these I saw most evenings till in July I left home for a month, and 

 saw no more of them till the 31st October, when a pair were again flying 

 about my house. This species seems to be especially savage when handled, 

 and will bite most severely if they have a chance. I could not make them 

 take any food in confinement. These were all taken from the old clock- 

 tower at Waldershare, the seat of the Earl of Guildford. After the last- 

 mentioned date I saw them no more at Cowfold ; but in June, 1870 or 

 1871, I found that they had become common at Henfield, about five miles 

 south of Cowfold, where they appear to have remained ever since, probably 

 inhabiting the church, for they are generally to be seen flying about some 

 old trees in a meadow near. As I studied bats for many years at Henfield, 

 and was a close observer, I feel certain that the Serotine was not there 

 thirty years ago (say in 1825), and I cannot avoid the conclusion that they 

 are my bats which migrated in a body from Cowfold." 



Further westward we should expect to hear of the Serotine in 

 Hampshire, for, according to the testimony of several observers, 

 it is not uncommon in the Isle of Wight. The Eev. C. A. Bury, 

 at Bonchurch, and Messrs. Bond, Hadfield, and A. G. More have 

 all testified to its occurrence there. The last-named observer 

 remarks, in a list of Mammalia printed in Venables' ' Guide to 

 the Isle of Wight' (1860), p. 408 :— " The Serotine appears to be 

 generally distributed, and by no means scarce. It has been 

 obtained repeatedly at Bembridge, where it was very common 

 until the recent felling of old timber and clearing of hedgerows 

 prescribed by the present advanced state of farming. Newchurch, 

 Godshill, and Brigstone are also known to produce this species, 

 said to be rare in Britain. The large bats shot by Bond * round 

 the cliffs near the edge of Freshwater Down, measuring three 

 inches more than the Serotine across the wings,' and included 

 in Mr. A. G. More's list (p. 409) as the Mouse-coloured Bat 

 [V. murinus], to which species they were at first referred, were 

 found on subsequent examination to be merely fine examples of 

 V. noctula." 



It should be observed here, that on a comparison of 

 measurements, we have not found a greater difference in the 

 extent of wing of these two species than about an inch and a 

 half. Bell, however, referring to the variation of colour to which 

 the Serotine is liable (Brit. Quadr. 2nd ed. p. 46), remarks that he 



