MAMMALS OF THE REGION 125 



extent, closely huddled together, but not pendent from 

 one another. As we approached closely with the lights, 

 they began to fly, the outer row leaving first, and others 

 as fast as exposed. I grabbed a handful of the bats 

 from the bunch and then retired leaving most of them 

 where they were. A few days later we brought a 

 motion-picture camera and tried to photograph them 

 as they hung in the mass and as they left it and flew 

 away, but the lights were inadequate and no pictures 

 were obtained. They were five or ten minutes in 

 leaving the bunch, but settled all over the roof of the 

 next room, and then, when disturbed, flew through a 

 low passage into a third room, to the far ends of low 

 tunnels, and into cracks and nooks and corners, where 

 they attempted to hide from the lights as we approached. 

 In a narrow tunnel, where my body almost filled the 

 passage, they would try to pass me, but turned back 

 so quickly that I could rarely catch one in my hand. A 

 few left the cave through the narrow shaft at the top, 

 but most of the colony hid away in the numerous galler- 

 ies and dark corners. 



Only one other bat of this species was found, this on 

 April 13, hanging from the roof of McKittrick Cave, 

 twenty miles west of Carlsbad. It was active and full 

 of fight, while several Corynorhinus hanging near it were 

 cold and torpid. A very old skull was found in the 

 farthest, deepest room of the Carlsbad Cave, showing 

 that they had once occupied this room. 



All but one of those taken in the cave were females, 

 as were also all of those shot at the water tank in 1901 ; 

 but four others caught at the Ball's Ranch near the 



