end of May, and many others were at least a month later than at other seasons, and some common species he had not observed at all; while some of the scarcer kinds had made their appearance in greater numbers than usual, for instance, Macaria notaria, Bapta taminaria, and some others. The butterflies seemed unusually scarce; he had seen but one specimen of Hamearis Lucina, although he had been in the woods nearly every day. He had no doubt, from what he had heard, that entomologists generally had met with great disappointment this year up to the present time. Mr. Harding exhibited a box of insects taken during the past month, containing, among others, the following:-Trochilium Cynipiformis, T. Culiciformis, Sesia Bombyliformis, Lobophora sexalisata, Melanippe hastaria, Bapta taminaria, B. temeraria, and Ephyra Omicronaria. Boxes of insects were likewise exhibited by several other members. Mr. Miller was proposed as a member by Mr. Dalman. In the Report for May (Zool. 3924), for Lithocolletis alnipaliella read L. alnifoliella.-J. T. N. The Entomological Club. The usual annual field-day of this little Association was held at Birch Wood, on Thursday, the 7th of July. The following Members and Visitors dined together, Mr. S. Stevens presiding : Mr. Bennett, Mr. Bevington, Mr. Birkett, F.L.S., Mr. Bowerbank, F.R.S., &c., Mr. Collingwood, Mr. Cuming, F.L.S., Mr. Deane, Pres. Pharm. Soc., Dr. De la Rue, F.R.S., &c., Mr. W. De la Rue, Mr. George, Mr. Gratton, F.R.B.S., Mr. Hanson, Mr. Hirst, Mr. R. Hudson, F.R.S., &c., Mr. Hutchinson, Mr. Janson, F.L.S., Mr. Keddell, Mr. Marchant, Mr. Marsh, Mr. Marshall, Mr. Newman, F.L.S., Pres. Ent. Soc., Mr. Powle, Mr. Salmon, F.L.S., Mr. Saunders, F.R.S., V.P. Ent. Soc., Mr. Scott, Mr. Smee, F.R.S., Mr. Stevens, F.L.S., Mr. Tebbs, Dr. Tyndall, F.R.S., &c., Mr. Wakefield, F.L.S., &c., Mr. Wenham, Mr. Harrison Weir, Mr. Woodward, F.R.S., &c., Mr. Van Voorst, F.L.S., &c., and Mr. Yarrell, V.P.L.S., &c. Note on the Carnivorous Propensities of the Hedgehog. - The following anecdote, for the accuracy of which I vouch, is not much in accordance with the term "harmless hedgehog" which occurs in the Rev. A. C. Smith's paper in the June number (Zool. 3903). Attached to the foreman's cottage, on the farm of a relative of mine, is the hen-house. Not long since, hearing a very unusual commotion amongst the inmates of the latter, the man went to ascertain the cause; and on entering the place, he found it to proceed chiefly from a nearly full-grown pullet, which was struggling on the ground. On closer inspection, he found that the thigh of the fowl was firmly held by the jaws of a hedgehog, which was very unwilling to relinquish its hold. I scarcely need add that the latter suffered the penalty of death for its temerity. — J. Catchpool, jun.; Colchester, June 16, 1853. Observations on the Harmlessness of the Hedgehog. MR. CATCHPOOL, in his note on the hedgehog (Zool. 4008), seems to take exception to the epithet "harmless" as applied by me to that animal; and, in support of his opinion, gives a strong instance of the carnivorous propensities of Master Piggy. Fearing, therefore, lest silence should imply consent to the inferences derived by Mr. Catchpool from his discovery that a hedgehog dined on fowl,-first, that he was therefore anything but harmless; and, secondly, that he was in consequence worthy of death, I must ask leave to say a few words in his defence, as I should be extremely sorry to see so interesting an animal doomed to even greater persecution than he already receives at the hands of the thoughtless and ignorant. Now, when I called the hedgehog "harmless," I was perfectly aware that he was occasionally carnivorous. I believe his appetite embraces a great variety of food; he is well known to eat snakes, worms, slugs, snails, frogs, toads, beetles, insects and mice, in addition to various roots, acorns, and other wild fruits, when they have fallen to the ground. These things I consider to form his every-day diet; but 1 acknowledge, at the same time, that he will occasionally eat a young rabbit, and, it seems, a young fowl, when he can find one; perhaps, too, we must sometimes add to his bill of fare, a few eggs, and, in one case, even bees, (Zool. 2637): though his most bitter foe will hardly desire the destruction of his race for this peculiar propensity in an individual. Assuming then that noxious reptiles, insects, roots and fallen fruits form his customary food, I would beg his accusers, in condemning him for an occasional error, not to lose sight of his virtues. There are many notices of him in the 'Zoologist,' proving him to be a determined destroyer of venomous reptiles; and though, in all honesty, I must own there are also therein several records of his carnivorous habits, these seem to be exceptional cases, occurring from lack of his ordinary food, and only proving how omnivorous an animal he is. Indeed, even Mr. Catchpool, had he considered the hedgehog as essentially a destructive carnivorous animal, and viewed him in the same light in which we are apt to look upon the fox, the weasel, and the polecat, would scarcely have thought it necessary to record his invasion of the hen-house, and his sanguinary attack on the pullet. But I do hope that an occasional fault will not alone be remembered, and 2 P XI. his many good deeds be forgotten. Surely, it would be hard to condemn his race, and take from him his good name, because he has been known to have satisfied his hunger with forbidden food! Why, at this rate, what living creature can escape? Certainly not man, who from the days of Adam has transgressed through greediness; and there is scarcely a species of beast, bird, fish, reptile or insect, but has occasionally been guilty of atrocious cruelty, amounting sometimes to murder, and sometimes even to cannibalism, and all the effect of ungovernable hunger. I own that the hedgehog is a great favourite with me. As a boy, I have on several occasions carried one home from the woods, and confined him in a rabbit-hutch for a time, where he would soon lose his natural timidity, and come out of his dark corner to be fed and I now have a family group of old and young, stuffed, and forming a very pretty case. I know no animal which always gave me a greater idea of innocence than the much maligned and persecuted little hedgehog. To see him come trotting down the path in a summer evening's ramble through the silent woods, to stand aside and watch him, ignorant of your presence, smelling, and snuffing, and poking his nose among the leaves and grass, and jogging on in his quiet way; and then to call to mind the absurd tales of his cow-sucking propensities, still firmly believed by most of our labourers, and his persecution consequent thereon, is surely enough to excite compassion in his accusers, and pity, "near akin to love." And then, if you suddenly make him aware of your presence, his only defence is to retire within himself: he has no notion of doing battle in self-defence; he knows he cannot escape by flight; so he rolls himself into a ball and awaits the result. It is said that even the worm when trodden on will turn on the aggressor, but not so the hedgehog; he meets the heavy blow, the deadly kick, the murderous attack of his cruel persecutors, with an enduring patience and silent resignation enough to cause remorse in the breast of his foe. Respecting this curious habit of rolling himself up into a ball, and presenting on all sides a bristling array of spines, Pliny tells us that hence he derives his Latin name "Echinus": “Nomen habet ἀπὸ τοῦ ἔχειν EAUTÒV, quòd convolutus ita se condat et contineat, ut nullæ carnes appareant; vel ἀπὸ τοῦ μὴ δύνασθαι ἔχεσθαι, quod teneri minime possit ob aculeos, quibus totus inhorrescit et contegitur: unde echinum vocârunt spinosum castaneæ operculum.”—Plin. lib. 27, cap. 9. But to return once more to his defence. Surely, when we consider his retiring disposition, for he is essentially a crepuscular animal, seldom making his appearance till evening; the locality he prefers, a thick wood, from which he rarely emerges but to trot round the hedge-rows in search of food; his natural timidity, never venturing out till all is still, and ever and anon stopping to listen; his customary diet, such as I have above described, and with which no one can find fault, I think he well deserves to be called "harmless," although an instance. may here and there occur of his forgetfulness of his natural shyness, and his intrusion into the hen-house. The barn-owl and tawny owl were once supposed to be guilty of endless enormities, and were ranked amongst the most destructive and noxious of birds; but since Mr. Waterton's admirable Essays in their defence, no naturalist can be found so bold as to question their innocence, though in those very Essays one is shown to have occasionally varied his diet with game and the other with fish. I wish the hedgehog had been treated to a whole Essay to himself from the same inimitable pen; but, as it is, I would draw attention to the phrase, "harmless little creature," as applied to the hedgehog by that prince of naturalists: and the author of the Journal of a Naturalist' describes it as "the most harmless and least obtrusive creature in existence." In conclusion, let me remark of the latter part of Mr. Catchpool's account, that though perhaps the death of the hedgehog was the only result to be expected from the man when he discovered the attack on his poultry, yet it is refreshing to find that such dire vengeance does not always follow the discovery of poor piggy's peccadilloes; for in a former number (Zool. 1634) we read that when caught in the act of devouring eggs, he was only removed from the scene of his festivities, but was still permitted to enjoy his liberty. This humane sparer of the poor hedgehog in the midst of his many foes, was a very Hypermnestra among the Danaides: and when he carried forth the prickly ball to a distance from his house, he may have addressed him in the words of that exemplary young lady : — "I; velut nactæ vitulos leænæ Singulos (eheu !) lacerant; ego illis I, pedes quo te rapiunt, et auræ, Dum favet Nox, et Venus: i secundo And we may conceive with what a grunt of satisfaction the poor hedgepig must have listened to these immortal lines of the poet, and with what alacrity he must have bustled home and related his adventures to his family, when he found that the coast was clear, and he might venture to unroll. Yatesbury Rectory, Calne, ALFRED CHARLES SMITH. Vespertilio emarginatus.· In Mr. Couch's interesting paper on bats (Zool. 3936), this species is incidentally mentioned without any comment on its rarity, or rather, on its slender claim to a place in the British Fauna. It is said by the original describer, M. Geoffroy, that M. Alexander Brongniart took a single specimen in the English Channel; and he adds, on this very insufficient evidence, that the species is “assez commune en Angleterre." The species which has received this name in Mr. Jenyns' 'Manual,' is V. Daubentonii of Leisler; and Mr. Bell, at the time of publishing his 'British Quadrupeds,' had no further information on the subject. Its claim to rank as a British species has therefore been generally ignored; and as its reintroduction by Mr. Couch is a matter of great interest, perhaps that gentleman will obligingly give some further particulars respecting it.-Edward Newman. Occurrence of the Reddish Gray Bat (Vespertilio Nattereri) in Ireland.—I have to record the occurrence of the reddish gray bat (Vespertilio Nattereri) at Levitstown, on the confines of the counties of Kildare and Queen's; at which place I was fortunate enough, in company with F. Haughton, Esq., to procure no less than nine full-grown specimens of this bat, and one of Vespertilio Pipistrellus. Seven of them, and the pipistrelle, were captured with a butterfly-net when coming out of a hole in the abutment of Tankardstown Bridge, which here crosses the Barrow: the other two specimens were shot by Mr. Haughton, as they were flying down the river. The following notes of their capture may be useful. The hole out of which the specimens were procured is situated about 4 feet above the water's edge, and seems to contain a large colony of these interesting little animals, as the edges of all the stones around the hole are polished with their running over them. I was led to watch the hole by my friend's saying he had been told that fifty-three bats were seen coming out of the hole at one time, and that he himself had counted thirty-five and upwards. Accordingly, on the 23rd of June, at half-past 8 o'clock in the evening, we repaired to the bridge, and even at that early hour the squeaking and chirping that proceeded from the hole was astonishing. This evening we captured two specimens of V. Nattereri and the pipistrelle. The former began to fly at about half-past 9, the pipistrelle about half an hour later. We counted forty-one bats coming out, and even then there were numbers remaining in the hole, if we might judge from the chirping coming from it. The next evening was harsh and cloudy, and only twenty-nine bats came out all those captured this evening were V. Nattereri, as V. Pipistrellus was too cunning, and dodged the net. The first bat came out of the hole at about half-past 9; about half an hour previously, however, bats came up the river, doubtless either from the ruins of an old church, or from Levitstown mill. The evening becoming more tempestuous, V. Nattereri began to return to the nests at 10, flying about and almost striking us. It was quite possible to distinguish V. Nattereri from V. Pipistrellus, both on wing and when coming |
