312 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



Natterer's Bat in Somersetshire. — On June 4th this year I dis- 

 covered, in a very small hole in an apple-tree at Queen Camel, 

 Somerset, a Bat whose appearance was not familiar to me. I there- 

 fore sent it on to the British Museum at Kensington, from whence I 

 learn that it is a specimen (male) of Natterer's Bat (Myotis nattereri). 

 In ' The Zoologist' for 1889 (pp. 245-7), Mr. Harting gives a list of 

 counties in which this species has been found, including Devon, Dorset, 

 and Hants, all bordering on Somerset, but states it had not yet been 

 met with in the last-named county. Mr. Millais, in his recent work 

 on British Mammals, has added to this list of counties, but still does 

 not include Somerset ; so that the above example is probably the 

 first recorded specimen from Somerset. — Robert H. Bead (Bedford 

 Park, W.). 



AVES. 



Thrush Laying Twice in the same Nest. — Referring to the notes 

 on this subject (ante, pp. 235 and 274), it may be of interest to record 

 that, on returning home on the 19th June, I found a Song-Thrush 

 sitting on a nest built in a plum-tree trained to a wall in the kitchen- 

 garden, and well sheltered from rain by a wide thatch coping. The 

 young (which may have been hatched when I first saw the nest — I did 

 not examine the contents) were duly hatched, and departed. About 

 three weeks later there were three fresh eggs in- the nest, which was 

 then deserted for some reason or other. — 0. V. Aplin. 



Blackbird Laying Twice in same Nest. — During the present year 

 a very similar instance to those recorded (ante, pp. 235 and 274) came 

 under my personal observation. A Blackbird nested upon the ground on 

 the sloping bank overhanging a small quarry in my grounds. A clutch 

 of four eggs were laid, and the young successfully reared. The nest 

 was then partly relined, and a clutch of six eggs laid by May 20th, which 

 unfortunately, owing to my too close attention, were then deserted. — 

 J. Steele -Elliott (Dowles Manor, Salop). 



Does the Blackbird eat Snails ? — I have often asked myself, and 

 have also put this question to men I know are keen on birds, and the 

 answer has always been the same: " They may do, but I have never 

 seen them." I know very well that, from its negative character, my 

 case is not very strong, and I am quite prepared to have it scornfully 

 said that "Blackbirds do not eat snails, because, forsooth! you and 

 your friends have not seen them do so." Still, what I want to find is 

 the man who has seen them so doing. The weight of affirmative 

 evidence is so strong that it seems hardly worth while arguing the 



