37 



NOTES ON THE BATS NEAR BARNSLEY. 



JOS. ARMITAGE. 



In any locality in Yorkshire possessing- an abundance of fine old 

 oak and beech trees, with a few ruined buildings and sheets of 

 water in their midst, there will no doubt be found a few of the 

 species of Bats which occur in the county. Such is the Stain- 

 borough locality, near Barnsley, where, during- the last five 

 years, my friend Mr. A. Whitaker and I, have taken seven of 

 the eight species which have so far been recorded for Yorkshire, 

 viz., Noctule i^Vesperugo noctida\ Pipistrelle [V. pipistrelliLs)^ 

 Hairy-armed (K leisleri)., Long--eared {Plecotus aiirztus), Red- 

 dish-g-rey {Vespertilio nattereri), Daubenton's [V. dmibentoni)^ 

 Whiskered (K viystacimis)^ and the remaining- species, the 

 Lesser Horseshoe Bat {Rhinolophiis hipposideros) may be obtained 

 in the district eventuall}'. Of these Vesperugo noctnla, J^. 

 pipistreLlus, Plecotus auritus, and Vespertilio nattereri occur 

 plentifully, and though the latter had only been recorded twice 

 until the year 1900, it has since been seen and obtained a great 

 many times here, so that it cannot now be classed as a rare 

 Yorkshire Bat. . ^ - 



Only a few examples of the other three species have been 

 obtained, the rarest as yet being- Vespertilio daiihentoni, of 

 which only two examples have been taken, the first in April 

 1901, and the second in October 1904. Thoug-h this species has 

 seldom been recorded for the count}-, I do not think it is 

 uncommon in this particular locality, as a number of Bals 

 answering- its description in size, fiig'ht, and habits were often 

 seen during- the summer of 1904 fiyii^g" over a sheet of water 

 only a short distance from an old disused tunnel, where the two 

 specimens were procured, and though Bats are admittedly 

 somewhat difficult to distinguish when fiying-, I feel sure that 

 these were daiihentoni. 



Four specimens of V. mystacinus have been obtained ; the 

 first, a rather small one, was found clinging- to the outer wall of 

 an old building- during a bright, warm day in April 1901, and 

 had apparently only just awakened from its winter sleep 

 and come from its hiding-place. Vesperngo leisleri, another 

 species with very lew Yorkshire records, has occurred four 

 times. The first one, obtained in March 1903, I put in a solution 

 of formalin and labelled it V. noctnla, thinking at the time th.at 

 it was only a small dark specimen, but in May 1904 one of the 



1905 Februarj- i. 



