

notjes And queries. 103 



Daubenton's Bat in Cheshire.— On the 26th December last I paid 

 a visit to the disused copper mines on Alderley Edge, and secured several 

 Whiskered and Long- eared Bats. I had taken both species at Alderley 

 several times before, and on this occasion I carelessly neglected to examine 

 my captures, some of which I sent to my friend Mr. L. E. Adams. A day 

 or two later he wrote me that one of the supposed mystacinus appeared to 

 be a different species. The skin; and skull were subsequently submitted to 

 Mr. Oldfield Thomas, of the British Museum, who identified the bat as 

 V. daubentonii. — Chas. Oldham (Ashton-on- Mersey). 



Black Variety of the Brown Rat. — A few weeks ago there were 

 indications that a rat had been endeavouring to scratch a hole into my 

 poultry-house; so I set a trap in the run, and found the animal safely 

 captured the next morning. But, to my surprise, instead of an ordinary 

 brown rat, it was perfectly black, and I at once flattered myself that I had 

 a specimen of the now rare Mus rattus. On closer examination, however, 

 it appeared to be larger, the ears smaller, and the tail shorter than any 

 specimen I had seen of M. rattus, and I came to the conclusion that it must 

 be either a hybrid or a case of melanism of M. decumanus, and I inclined to 

 the latter view. I at once posted it to my friend Mr. William Evans (author 

 of 'The Mammalia of the Edinburgh District'), for the opinion of himself 

 and Mr. Eagle Clarke, of the Edinburgh Museum, both of whom concur 

 in my idea that it is a melanism of M. decumanus, and worthy of 

 preservation ; so it was placed in the hands of a taxidermist, and is now 

 here well mounted. Mr. Clarke states that several similar instances have 

 occurred in the Hebrides, and that this form was described by Thompson 

 as M. decumanus var. hibernicus, but I do not know whether there have 

 been many similar occurrences in Ireland. — A. B. Hubert (Mitcham 

 Grove, Surrey). [A figure of Mus hibernicus, Thompson, will be found in 

 •The Zoologist,' 1889, pi. iv.— Ed.] 



BIRDS. 



Hybrid Finches at the Crystal Palace. — On the opening day of the 

 recent Birds' Show I paid a hurried visit to the Crystal Palace, and was 

 well repaid. The afternoon was, however, very dark, and it was impossible 

 to see many of the specimens properly. Nine cases of hybrid British 

 Finches were exhibited, viz., Bullfinch and Goldfinch, Bullfinch and 

 Linnet, Goldfinch and Greenfinch, Goldfinch and Linnet, Linnet and 

 Greenfinch, Linnet and Bullfinch, Redpoll and Goldfinch, Siskin and Red- 

 poll, and Brambling and Chaffinch. There was also on view a bird 

 described as a cross between t'he Blackbird and Thrush, about which I 

 hope to get further particulars. The bird in question certainly showed 

 marked characteristics of both species. In general shape and attitude it 

 resembled a Thrush, and I made the following rough note as to its 



