i9oi. Ai<COCK & MOFFAT. — The L 07i g- eared Bat 243 



When one of these bats leaves a tree, if its object is merely 

 to pass to another quite near at hand, it darts through the air 

 with a swift arrowy flight ; but when a longer expedition is 

 contemplated the mode of quitting the tree is different. The 

 bat plunges headlong to within an inch or two of the ground, 

 and then skims away in jerking zigzag fashion — much as a 

 Nightjar does — over the surface of the field. The swift plung- 

 ing descent taken on these occasions is very remarkable, and 

 renders it a difficult matter to keep the animal longer in 

 sight. 



In early May, when trees, as a rule, are still sparsely clad, 

 we have seen this bat hunting in Oak-woods ; and in April it 

 visits, as many observers have noted, the catkins of various 

 willows {Salix Caprea, S. cinerea, &c), on which small moths 

 are st rest. Tomes (xvii., pp. 76-7) describes having seen it 

 on one occasion in the morning twilight, " actively engaged 

 around the sprigs of a Spindle- tree," which was "in bloom at 

 the time, and was surrounded by a cloud of minute micro- 

 lepidoptera on which the bat was feeding." The writer adds, 

 that " with scarcely an exception, the moths were picked from 

 the leaves while resting there, only one or two being taken 

 on the wing." This accords exactly with what has been ob- 

 served of the bat's habits at Ballyhyland, where, even when 

 hovering round the outskirts of trees, it seems invariably to 

 fly with its face pointing to — and almost in contact with — the 

 foliage. 



From all the foregoing observations it is not difficult to 

 infer that the IyOng-eared Bat feeds chiefly on those insects 

 which it can seize at rest. In short, it plays among the trees 

 by night, much the same part as birds of the " leaf-warbler " 

 group (Chiffchaff, Willow-wren, &c.) do by day ; while the 

 Pipistrelle rather emulates the part of the Swallow, and catches 

 its prey almost exclusively on the wing. We need not, how- 

 ever, suppose that trees are absolutely necessary to the Long- 

 eared Bat, since it seems also to hunt low over the ground, 

 probably for such insects as lurk in — or fly very near — the 



grass. 



This animal has often been seen to attack a Pipistrelle, 

 which has ventured too near its feeding-grounds. The latter, 

 on such occasions, nearly always beat a rapid retreat. 



