NOTES AND QUERIES.
MAMMALIA.
CHIROPTERA.
Daubenton's Bat in the Conway Valley.—When staying at Bettws-yCoed last May, I used to see this Bat (Myotis daubentoni) every evening, skimming in its characteristic and unmistakable fashion over a quiet reach of the Llngwy. I also saw it at Llyn-yr-Afange, a beautiful pool on the Conway, whose name is said to recall the fact that the Beaver once inhabited the stream.— Chas. Oldham (Alderley Edge).[1]
AVES.
Nightingale Nesting at Wells, Somerset.—I am pleased to report that a pair of these beautiful songsters (Daulias luscinia) have again nested in a wood just outside the town known as Park Wood. The nest, composed of dried grasses and last year's oak leaves for the exterior, with finer grasses and the skeletons of old oak leaves for the interior, is placed in the centre of a tall grass-stalk, supported on one side by the low hanging branch of the wild sloe, and contains five eggs, all of a uniform olive-brown colour; the nest is uncommonly deep and cup-shaped. On leaving the nest the female flew a few yards through the undergrowth, keeping close to the ground, the reddish tint of the tail-feathers being very noticeable. It is worthy of note that five young ones were hatched here in safety last year.—Stanley Lewis (39, High Street, Wells, Somerset).
When does the House Martin arrive?—Having noted the arrival of spring visitants for thirty-nine years, I should say that Messrs. Fowler and Aplin's records show very well the average time of arrival of this species (Chelidon urbica). In the following thirty-seven records (those for years 1863 and 1864 unfortunately lost) by my brothers and myself, there is a considerable gap between the earliest and latest notes, viz. April 13th and May 12th; but we early became accustomed to expect the bird considerably later than the Swallow, and not so very much before the Swift. It will be noted that this year (1898) gives the only record of arrival so early as second week in April.
- ↑ see also: Oldham, Chas. (1898). "correction". The Zoologist. 4th series, vol 2 (issue 686, August—section 'Notes and Queries'): 368. (Wikisource-Ed.)
