Page:The Zoologist, 4th series, vol 2 (1898).djvu/527



July of the present year the writer received a box containing thirty-six living specimens of Natterer's Bat (Vespertilio nattereri) from North Wales. These were all captured in an old ruin not far from the sea, and, along with a dozen or so more, were taken from a hole in the masonry formerly occupied by Jackdaws. The collection consisted of both old and young, and nearly all have been most carefully preserved.

The occurrence of this comparatively rare British Bat in such large numbers is most interesting, and especially so because the young are of almost all ages—some so very juvenile as to be hardly capable of spreading their membranes.

So little known are the young of this species that a few words by way of description, along with a photographic reproduction of a specimen taken after preservation, may not be out of place.

During life the young Natterer's Bat is darker above than the adult, and noticeably paler beneath—in fact, nearly pure white. The specifically characteristic long spur and hairy margin to the distal portion of the interfemoral membrane is equally observable in the young. Another recognizable point in both old and young Zool. 4th ser. vol. IL, December, 1898.