38 Amnitage : Notes on the Bats near Barnsley. 



Stahiborough woodmen gave me three Bats which he had taken 

 from a hole in a tree, and upon examination they proved to be 

 similar to this one. Being then uncertain of their identity I sent 

 one, along with the first taken and a specimen of Vespertilio 

 daubentoni — ^about which I was also uncertain — to Mr. Oldfield 

 Thomas (British Museum), who kindly named them for me as 

 undoubted examples of Vesperugo le is lei' I ^^nd Vespertilio dauben- 

 toni. 



From the holes and crevices in the roof of the tunnel 

 previously mentioned a great many Bats have been obtained at 

 various times, and it is here that most of the K nattereri have 

 been taken, whilst tvv'o of the four F, mystacinus and the only 

 two V. daubentoni v^^ro. also obtained here. In this place Bats 

 may be searched for during almost any month of the year, but 

 summer and autumn are the periods when most are to be found, 

 as during these months a few are often to be found at rest in the 

 daytime hanging between the loose stones in the roof, and with 

 the aid of a lighted candle fastened to the end of a walking stick 

 they are not very difficult to find. In winter they are not so 

 easy to get, as they retire further into the crevices, where it is 

 hnpossible to see them, and fall into a torpid sleep. Their sleep, 

 however, is very intermittent, and a period of damp or frosty 

 weather seems to disturb them, and they will then move short 

 distances among the stones in search of more comfortable 

 quarters. It is after they have been so disturbed that speci- 

 mens have occasionally been obtained in the depth of winter. 



Short tunnels, however, are not the only places where Bats 

 may be found, as some species will rest in a variety of situations, 

 and to give a list of the places where I have found P. aiiritus 

 and Vesperugo pipistrelhis \\ow\d take up far too much space, but 

 among others which could be mentioned are : holes in trees, under 

 loose bark, behind ivy, among the thatching over an old shed, 

 and holes and cre\'ices in almost any old building's. V. noctula^ on 

 the other hand, is a species particularly fond of resting in hollow 

 trees — in fact, I have never found them in any other situation, 

 and though their retreat is often extremely well concealed in 

 some old tree, it is frequently betrayed by the noisy quarrelling 

 of the occupants, who, as a rule, seem to be incapable of agree- 

 ing with each other, even when onl}- a few are sharing the 

 same hollow. 



As the Stainborough surroundings appear to be very attractive 

 to Bats, it is not surprising that some species are extremel}' 

 common, and one, Vespertilio n(!ttereri~—c\ Bat considered rare 



Naturalist. 



