CROW'S 

 NEST 



Silvery-bat ini 



Of 3 females shot June 30, 1883, one contained but a single 

 embryo, and the others, 2 each. All were nearly ready for 

 extrusion, and would doubtless have been born within 48 

 hours." 



This is a Bat of hollow trees, but I have known it to har- 

 bour in a thicket of spruce boughs high up from the ground, 

 as well as in the lumber piles at Winnipeg. 



The mother Bat does not prepare any nest for the young, 

 but avails herself of such ready-made accommodations as she 

 can find. 



The most unexpected lodging of the species and nursery 

 for the young is that detailed by Dr. Merriam, as follows:* 



"Frank Hough tells me that when looking for young 

 crows some years ago in the deep ravine that runs through the 

 village of Lowville, in Lewis County, he espied a crow's nest 

 in a large and densely foliaged hemlock. On climbing the tree, 

 he found the nest to be an old one, and commenced tearing it to 

 pieces, when, to his astonishment, he discovered 13 young Bats 

 embedded in the sticks and litter of which it was composed. 

 These Bats were taken home and shown to several members 

 of the family. Their eyes were not yet open. They were, of 

 course, the progeny of a number of females, and presumably 

 were of the species now under consideration, because it is by 

 far the most common in the region. 



"The young * * * commence to fly when three weeks young 

 old. Those killed on the first evening of their appearance 

 averaged 90 mm. [3I inches] in length by 261 mm. [io| inches] 

 in stretch, but weighed only half as much as their parents. 

 The adults average about 104 mm. [4I inches] in length by 

 302 mm. [11 5 inches] in stretch. When on the wing, the 

 young may be distinguished from the old by the weakness 

 and hesitancy of their flight, rather than by the difi^erence in 

 size. The young are much more beautiful than the adults, 

 and they alone possess the perfect silvery tips to the hairs 



* Mam. Adir., 1884, p. 190. 



