MAMMALS on the upper parts), and singular aspect of the face, occasioned by deeply sunk nostrils and a peculiar formation of the ears, at once arrested attention, recalling Bell's figure of this species. 3, Great or White's Bat. Pipistrellus noctula, Schreber. Bell — Scolophilus noctula. White — VespertHio altivolans. The Messrs. Paget,' writing in 1834, refer to this animal as being ' rather rare ' in the neighbourhood of Yarmouth, which includes a portion of Suffolk ; and about Thetford, Mr. W. G. Clarke considers it to be rather scarce at the present time. In most parts of the county however it is a common species. In the east it is especially numerous, and its vigorous and somewhat snipe-like flight often attracts attention as at sunset its dark form comes into bold relief against the glowing col- ours of the western sky. Flying usually at a considerable elevation, it will sometimes, in hot pursuit of its prey, dash obliquely downwards almost to the earth. In east Suffolk it is gene- rally first seen on the wing about the second or third week in April. During a period of seven or eight years, the earliest appearance noted by the waiter is 2 April at Leiston, in the year 1873. It does not as a rule retire to its winter quarters till the latter part of October, and on two occasions, in unusually mild weather, I have noticed it abroad near Snape Bridge in November ; in one instance as late as the 28th of that month. In the year 1894 the Rev. F. C. R. Jourdain saw one near Halesworth, flying at mid-day in bright sunshine, as early in the season as 26 March. In 1901 a noctule was observed by the writer, apparently hawking for insects over a sandpit at Blaxhall on 21 January at 4.45 p.m. The Rev. J. G. Tuck informs me that these large bats take possession of the nest- boxes placed about his garden at Tostock near Bury St. Edmunds for the benefit of the birds, and that he has found as many as ten in one box. The noctule is particularly partial to our river valleys ; those of the Blythe, the Aide and the Stour being especially attractive to it. 4. Pipistrelle. Pipistrtllus pipistrellus, Schre- ber. Bell — Scotophtlus pipistrellus. Abundant. Often seen abroad in mid- winter during mild weather. It not unfre- » A Sketch of the Nat. Hist, of Yarmouth and Neighbourhood, C. J. and James Paget. quently hawks for insects in the daytime, both in summer and winter. I have several times noticed this little bat so engaged in December and January at hours varying from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. 5. Natterer's Bat. Myotis natter eri, Kuhl. Bell — Vespertilio nattereri. Professor Newton ^ has recorded the occur- rence of this bat at Elveden near Thetford, and Mr. H. Laver of Colchester has also met with it in the Stour valley. On several occasions during the years 1882 and 1883 some examples of the present species were found by the writer in the interior of a plaster figure on the wall of a summer-house at Blaxhall, most of them being males. On 12 April 1884 four of these bats, two ot each sex, were discovered in the same retreat, and on 18 March 1885 a single female was the only occupant. They ran with consider- able agility upon the ground, and their flight was strong and vigorous. A pair were dis- covered in the same place in May 1903. 6. Daubenton's Bat. Myotis daubentoni, Leisler. Bell — VespertiRo daubentonii. In an article on this bat in the Zoologist for 1889, Mr. J. E. Harting, then editor of that journal, states (p. 163) that it has been ob- served by Doubleday flying over the river Stour at Sudbury. Mr. H. Laver of Col- chester has since met with this species in the Stour valley. About the year 1878 a bat was shot within the boundaries of the parish of St. Clement's, Ipswich, near the present site of the sewer outlet works, which at that time had not been constructed. Mr. H. C. Hudson, taxidermist of that town, who was present when it was killed, observing that it was no common species, went with the per- son who shot it to the Ipswich Museum, to try and ascertain its species. Unfortunately Dr. Taylor, curator at the time, was away. After however consulting several books, Mr. Hudson came to the conclusion that it was a specimen of F. daubentonii. It was soon after- wards sent to London, and came into the possession of a Mr. Betts, who has since died, [^Fespertilio dasycneme. Boie (I sis, 1825, p. 1200). Mr. J. E. Harting (« Remarks on British Bats,' Zoologist, 1887, p. 162, in which is given the classification, with distinguishing characters of the families and genera, of all ' Zoologist, 1853, p. 3804. 217 28
