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MAMMALIA OF BOTTESFORD PARISH 

 AND THE NEIGHBOURHOOD. 



MAX PEACOCK, 

 The Manor, Bottcsford, Lincolnshire. 



The parish of Bottesford, where I was born, extends from the 

 river Trent on the west to within 4^ miles of Brig-g on the 

 east, in North-West Lincolnshire. It contains the townships or 

 hamlets of Holme, Ashby, Bottesford,' Yaddlethorpe, and East 

 Butterwick north of the Beck — the portion, of this township to 

 the south being - in Messingham parish. It lies wholly in Natural 

 History Division 2 S. When I speak of the district in contra- 

 distinction to the parish I mean the whole of Division 2 S. The 

 soil, starting from the west and travelling east, is warp or 

 H umber alluvium lying on peat or blown sand, which appear 

 from beneath it as you rise above high water level. Then two 

 escarpments of the clays and shales of the Lower Lias. The 

 warp keeps up its old reputation, and the loamy soils of the Lias 

 are unusually fertile. The clays are rich pasture land where 

 the grass is old, growing - fine oak and ash. Considering how 

 few and scattered the woods and plantations are, the parish is 

 an unusually rich natural history neighbourhood. There is still 

 a Decoy at Ashby, which was once surrounded by extensive 

 plantations, and a few miles to the eastward lie the far-stretching 

 woodlands of Appleby, Broughton, Man by, Scawby, and Twig- 

 moor, with their heronry, gullery of ' blackheads,' and duck-pond. 

 When I refer to my brother, the Vicar of Cadney, who is not 

 quite unknown to the readers of 'The Naturalist,' I shall speak 

 of him as — the Vicar. 



Great Bat. Pipistrellus noctula (Schreb.). Fairly common. 

 It frequents trees, ivy, and roofing" tiles. It searches for its 

 food nearer the ground than other species. 



Flitter Mouse. Pipistrellus pipistrellus {Geoff.). Found all 

 over the district, as well as in Bottesford parish. 



Long-eared Bat. Plecotus auritus (Geoff ). Not as common 

 as the last, but we have it about the church and elsew here. 

 I have taken it in the belfry, and from holes in the walls of 

 the church. I once took one on a small fish-hook on a line 

 gut with natural moth. 



1901 June 1. 



