NOTES AND QUERIES. 395 



informants laid great stress on the phenomenal rapidity with which it can 

 burrow, as observed in both a state of nature and captivity." To these 

 notes of Prof. Stirling I may add the remark that this is certainly one of 

 the most extraordinary discoveries in Zoology made of late years. Notoryctes 

 typhlops, as shown by Prof. Stirling's full and elaborate description and 

 figures, is unquestionably a new and perfectly isolated form of marsupial 

 life, and must be referred to a new section of the order Marsupialia. We 

 must all congratulate Prof. Stirling on his success in bringing before 

 the world such an important novelty. — P. L. Sclater (From ' Nature,' 

 Sept. 10th). 



Daubenton's Bat in Yorkshire, — It is somewhat surprising that this 

 local but widely distributed species has hitherto escaped detection in the 

 broad and diversified acres of Yorkshire. Mr. Basil Carter, to whom belongs 

 the credit of obtaining the first Yorkshire specimen, forwarded to me, for 

 identification, a male which he had shot on the evening of the 19th August 

 last, as it flitted over the river Yore at Masham. It appeared to be accom- 

 panied by several others of the same species, and these flew closely round 

 the captor as he lifted his squeaking victim from the water. Mr. James 

 Carter tells me he has often seen similar bats flying over the surface of the 

 Yore, but always failed in his attempts to secure a specimen of what he 

 shrewdly guessed was Vespertilio daubentonii. Is Dr. Dobson's description 

 of the tragus, as given in his 'Catalogue of the Cheiroptera' (p. 297) — 

 wherein it is said to terminate in " an acute point " — quite correct ? I have 

 this year examined a number of specimens in a perfectly fresh condition, 

 and found that though this organ tapers considerably, yet it is decidedly 

 rounded at its distal extremity ; and such is shown to be the case in the 

 enlarged figure of the ear of this species given by Blasius in his 'Fauna 

 der Wirbelthiere Deutschlands' (p. 99). — Wm. Eagle Clarke (Museum 

 of Science and Art, Edinburgh). 



Serotine Bat in Hampshire and Cornwall. — This species certainly 

 occurs on the Hampshire mainland. Mr. F. Bond wrote to me, under 

 date February 5th, 1886, that " he was quite sure he had seen the Serotine 

 and Whiskered Bats between Lymington and Brockenhurst when ento- 

 mologising there years ago." Lord Lilford also wrote in ' The Zoologist,' 

 1887 (p. 65), that he had received specimens from Hampshire. Mr. Dobson's 

 Catalogue of the Cheiroptera in the British Museum includes a specimen 

 there which was obtained at Tintagel, in Cornwall. — J. E. Kelsall 

 (Wavertree, Liverpool). 



CETACEA. 



White-beaked Dolphin. — This species may almost be considered a 

 regular spring visitor to the east coast. Mr. Patterson found one lying 

 dead on the beach near Yarmouth on the 19th April last, and on the 27th 

 August he saw another which was being exhibited on the drive at the same 



