236 The hish Natuj'alist. [October, 



However, the discover}^ that Vespcj'ugo Leislcri is a morning 

 flier was a useful step towards tracing some of these animals to 

 their sleeping place at Ballyhyland, the morning light being 

 infinitel}^ preferable to that of evening for such a purpose* 

 On the morning of August loth I accordingly w^atched from 

 2.45 a.m. in the pasture-field already referred to, taking my 

 stand near an old and hollow ash-tree which I had reason to 

 suspect the bats might inhabit. At 3.35 a.m. their screams 

 were audible in the open, where several w^ere soon afterwards 

 seen, hawking and sporting above the level of the tree-tops. 

 At 4.2 one of them suddenl}^ dipped from its elevation, and 

 when near the ground darted towards the trunk of the old ash, 

 where it entered a hole about seven feet from the ground. At 

 4.5 another dipped, and shot into the same hole. At 4. 11 a 

 third followed suit ; at 4.12 a fourth entered another hole, some 

 two feet higher up in the same tree. This was the last bat 

 seen that morning. The four individuals noted had homed 

 respectively 33, 30, 24, and 23 minutes before sunrise.^ 



The hole into which three of the four bats had vanished was 

 evidently the entrance to a cavity of some extent, but it was 

 too narrow to admit of any examination of the interior. In 

 the evening I saw the three come out again, one at 7.53 and 

 two at 8 p.m., or 16 and 23 minutes after sunset. On the 

 following evening five were seen, all issuing from the same 

 hole, between 7.47 and 7.57 — their times of emergence being 

 respectively 12, 16, 17, 19, and 22 minutes after sunset. On 

 the 12th I again saw five come out : the first one minute, the 

 others respectively 8, 11, 13, and 16 minutes after sunset. 

 When quitting their abode, though high fliers at other times, 

 these bats skim very low over the grass. 



The question of the animal's return to its sleeping-den during 

 the night was less easily settled. On two evenings I watched 

 the hole without au}^ success, though the moon was full and 

 bright, and I hid in the shadow of the ash-boughs not to dis- 

 concert the homing bats. The fact, however, that this large 

 and noisy species suddenly ceases to be either visible or 

 audible about an hour and twenty minutes after sunset weighed 

 strongl}^ against the idea of its continuing on the wing all 



' In explanation of these figures, I should state that at Ballyhyland 

 (lat. 52° 31 N., long. 6^ 43' W.) sunrise on August loth is 4 minutes later 

 than at Dublin, and sunset i minute earlier. 



