NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS P I G M Y S H R E W (Sorex minutus). In Feb., 1959, I caught a pigmy shrew in an apple störe above my garage. S. PILKINGTON, Earl Soham. LESSER
HORSE
SHOE
BAT ( R h i n o l o p h u s hipposideros)
NEW
to
Suffolk. A lesser Horse shoe bat was found in a cave in the chalk in Bury St. E d m u n d s on 18th December, 1958. T h e bat was ringed and found again ön January 9th, January 3Ist and March 14th, 1959. T h e only previous records for East Anglia are Girton, Cambridgeshire, 1887 and Happisburgh, Norfolk, 1914.
R.
STEBBINGS.
BATS IN W O M E N ' S H A I R . It is often said that bats are in some way attracted by women's hair and that once in contact they become inextricably entangled, the two victims having to be separated by scissors wielded by a man. Reports of such occurrences are much like those of the Indian Rope Trick : one's informant knows somebody, who knows somebody eise, who had a friend—etc., etc., but the story of bats in the hair is so widespread that the gift of Noctule (Nyctalus noctulä) by Mr. D . Jones of Higham and of three smaller bats, Long-eared (Plecotus auritus) Natterer's ( M y o t i s nattereri)' and Daubenton's (M. daubentoni) by M r . R. Stebbings of Bury St. E d m u n d s seemed to offer sufficient material for experiment. Of women only two young 18 year old blondes were available, one with relatively short curly hair, the other with longer wavy hair done u p behind in a b u n : it does not seem likely that there would have been any different result with older women or with brünettes. In the case of the smaller bats each was placed in t u r n u p o n thevolunteer's head, each walked about without becoming entangled in any way and finally took flight without any difficulty. T h e experiment was repeated several times with the same results. None of the small bats had been for long in captivity, all were still a little nervous when handled and apt to bite and therefore likely to " panic " — if bats do panic—when placed u p o n a hairy and unaccustomed substratum. T h e noctule on the other hand had been in captivity for some months and was very tarne, hurrying towards a hand placed in its cage and crying like a puppy for food. It had been found lying injured on a road in mid-winter and had never attempted to fly when in captivity and seemed to have arthritic swellings in one knee joint and one wrist. A freshly caught Noctule does seem liable to panic in a house (Trans. S.N.S. Vol. I X p. 369) and the experiment should obviously be repeated with such an animal. In the case under review the tarne noctule walked about on the volunteers' heads with no apparent difficulty. I should like to be able to record the names of these two martyrs to science but they prefer to remain anonymous. CRANBROOK.
194
NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS
L O N G T A I L E D F I E L D M O U S E (Apodemus sylvaticus). T w o long tailed field mice were caught in small heaps of topped sugar beet lying in a field some 70 yards from the nearest hedge. One about | grown, had made a nest in one of the heaps.
M . HARE, F a r n h a m .
I n November, 1958, I trapped some A. sylvaticus on a vine the grapes of which were being damaged by some animal. M . L . L Y N N A L L E N , Wickham Market. I n November, 1958, some heaps of straw left behind a combine were being carried from a field. U n d e r one was found a field mouse's nest and when the straw was moved the female was seen struggling through the stubble with three young clinging to her flanks with their mouths. One of t h e m lost its hold b u t when last seen the mother was still going with two still holding on. T h e young were just old enough to crawl for themselves, were covered with hair and had their eyes open. A. L . BULL, H i t c h a m .
R E D SQUIRREL (Sciurus vulgaris). A red February, 1959, to run u p a tree carrying ounces which it later dropped. T h e bone round it. MRS. BARTON,
squirrel was seen in a bone weighing 1] had tooth marks all Little Blakenham.
C O Y P U (Myocaster coypus). T h e local paper records the killing of coypu at D a r s h a m (Shot Nov. 1958) at Lowestoft (Killed 1958). It is a pity that even in these days the appearance of any stränge animal immediately produces a shot gun or a stick and a wasted corpse. Coypus have also been recorded f r o m Blythburgh, a pair of adults with two young. P. J. O. TRIST, Westleton, MRS. JAY. Bruisyard, f grown, (Excellent eating. CRANBROOK.) April, 1959. C A P T . C. M A R R I O T .
M I N K (Lutreola sp.). Specimens taken f r o m a pile of droppings outside a hole by the River Deben, Wickham Market, used regularly by a mink in June, 1958, were found to consist of about J animal fĂźr and ] crayfish shells. CRANBROOK.
RED DEER. Stag and hind of red deer were seen grazing on the lawn of this farm at 7 a.m. on April 23rd. MRS. M . PEARCE,
Theberton.
F I S H PARASITE Triaenophorus lucii has been identified by M r . S. P r u d h o e f r o m a pike caught in the River Deben at Wickham Market. CRANBROOK.
NOTES AND
195
OBSERVATIONS
Aphilothrix sieboldi Hartig. Dr. G . T a y l o r kindly identified s o m e galls on an oak twig f r o m S n a p e as being caused by this gall wasp. T h e only other record f r o m this county seems to be from Bentley W o o d s in 1895 b y C. Morley. ( T r a n s . S . N . S . Vol. I I I p. 30, 1935). DOROTHY CRANBROOK, S n a p e Priory. FUNGI f o u n d on C a v e n h a m Heath. TRICHOLOMA gambosum AMANITA rubescens AMANITOPISI vaginata TRICHOLOMA nudum RUSSULA fragilis BOLETUS luridus S u b m i t t e d by M i s s NEVARD, N e w m a r k e t . ENDOGENOUS
B U D S ON
FORSYTHIA
I sent s o m e curious growths that have a p p e a r e d on one of my F o r s y t h i a s to Professor Bennet-Clark. T h i s is what he says. " T h e r e is no d o u b t that they are part of the ordinary more or less normal a n a t o m y of the plant which does p r o d u c e these e n d o g e n o u s b u d s , that is a b u d whose growing point is fairly deeply seated in the stela rather than in the cortex of the plant. T h e r e are always a few of these p r o d u c e d in Forsythia, j u s t how or why your plant p r o d u c e d such crops of them so as to produce that nobbly appearance, I really cannot guess. I d o n ' t think it is likely to b e due to any f o r m of insect activity for e x a m p l e , and I can't really believe that your rather ' specialised manurial treatment * ' did it either, t h o u g h one never knows, and it m i g h t b e worth while trying one or two further control experiments. T h e material provided quite an interesting anatomical investigation." * T h i s refers to the fact that I empty my pussy-cats' earth pans under this bush. JANET C .
N.
WILLIS.
TUNNY. A tunny was cast u p on the beach two miles north of S o u t h w o l d during the a u t u m n of 1958. Its length w a s roughly 7ft., girth 4 ft., and its weight was estimated at 300 lb. T h e r e was a report of a N o r w e g i a n fish hook and line being in its mouth, but this has not b e e n confirmed. M r . D . J . GARRETT, L e i s t o n . F L O U N D E R S IN
FRESHWATER
G o r d o n Hatfield, fishing in a deep pool in the Belstead Brook, saw a lot of flat fish lying in the m u d . H e took one to the I p s w i c h M u s e u m and M r . S p e n c e r identified it as a flounder. It has m a d e itself at h o m e in a fresh water tank, but can scarcely be seen as it has buried itself in the fine gravel and only its pebble-like eyes
196
NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS
protrude. Mr. E. Quinton Bitton, F.Z.S. writes, " Flounders penetrate into 100% freshwater where they can exist indefinitely. Just recently, while netting a large reservoir at Ormesby Waterworks, we found fourflounders,the largest of which was approximately 1 lb. in weight. These had obviously been sucked in as very smallfishat the waterworks intake at Horning, pumped under the Rivers Ant and Thurne and into the reservoir approximately ten miles distant ! We had no way of knowing how long the fish had been in the reservoir which had not been emptied for eleven years, but all thefishwere in excellent condition ! " Later Mr. Bitton writes, " I have further investigated the presence offloundersin the Belstead Brook and have come to the conclusion that almost daily at certain periods of the tides it would be possible for smallfishto enter the brook from the tidal waters, and conversely it would be even easier forfishto pass out of the brook to the estuary. Rather similar conditions exist in the River Finn where to my knowledgefloundershave been noted in and downstream of Bealings area." Plantago major. Mrs. T. B. Job has found at Dedham near the river a plant of which the scapes are 34 inches long (80 cm.). The seeds run down to f of its length. I think this must be a record for size. J.C.N.W.
HERBARIUM MATERIAL FOR OVERSEAS INSTITUTES We have undertaken to help in a scheme for sending dried specimens of British plants for the Herbaria of overseas institutions, museums and universities, etc., and have adopted the Canadian Department of Agriculture at Ottawa, which wants both wild and cultivated species. Can you help in this from surplus of your own dried collections or by collecting and drying specimens ? It should be emphasised that all common and local species are required and that on no account should rarities be gathered. Specimens should be carefully spread out and well dried under pressure and not mounted but laid loose between sheets (newspaper would do well). Sheets should not be larger than the usual herbarium size, 16|" X 10|". The whole plant should be shown, including basal leaves, roots, bulb or corm, both in flower and in seed. (Two seasons collecting may be necessary.) Labels will be supplied for name of plant, habitat, etc. Advice on the preparing of specimens, if required, may be found in the Schools Supplement Part XIV, page 5, published separately in September.