Hoary Bat 



distant horizon and disappears in the darkness below. In breath- 

 less suspense you wait for him to rise, crouching low that his 

 form may be sooner outlined against the dim light that still 

 lingers in the northwest, when he suddenly shoots by, seemingly 

 as big as an owl, within a few feet of your very eyes. Turn- 

 ing quickly you fire, but too late! He has vanished in the 

 darkness. For more than a week each evening is thus spent, 

 and you almost despair of seeing another hoary bat, when, per- 

 haps on a clear cold night, just as the darkness is becoming 

 too intense to permit you to shoot with accuracy and you are 

 on the point of turning away, something appears above the 

 horizon that sends a thrill of excitement through your whole 

 frame. There is no mistaking the species — the size, the sharp, 

 narrow wings and the swift flight serve instantly to distinguish 

 it from its nocturnal comrades. On he comes, but just before 

 arriving within gunshot he makes one of his characteristic zig- 

 zag side shoots and you tremble as he momentarily vanishes 

 from view. Suddenly he reappears, his flight becomes more 

 steady, and now he sweeps swiftly toward you. No time is 

 to be lost, and it is too dark to aim, so you bring the gun 

 quickly to your shoulder and fire. With a piercing, stridulous 

 cry he falls to the earth. In an instant you are stooping to 

 pick him up, but the sharp grating screams, uttered with a tone 

 of intense anger, admonish you to observe discretion. With 

 delight you cautiously take him in your hand and hurry to the 

 light to feast your eyes upon his rich and handsome markings. 

 He who can gaze upon a freshly killed example without feelings 

 of admiration is not worthy to be called a naturalist." 



To the southward of the Canadian fauna the hoary bat occurs 

 only as a migrant during the winter months, early spring and 

 late autumn, and it is here, if anything, a rarer sight than in 

 its true home to the northward. I have known of specimens 

 being secured about Philadelphia, but in spite of many evenings 

 spent in looking for it at times, when its occurrence seemed 

 most likely, 1 have never been successful in obtaining a glimpse 

 of this interesting bat. 



los 



