THE BATS 



lOI 



ear. The eyes are small, and nearly concealed by the long coarse 

 hair of the face. On the lip there is a decided moustache of long 

 hair, which rather incorrectly gives the name of "whiskered" 

 bat. It should rather be called " moustached." The tip of the 

 tail, which projects beyond the membrane, is slightly curved. 

 The membrane of the wings takes its rise from the base of the 

 fifth toe, and there is no lobe of the interfemoral membrane 

 outside the calcaneum, which last terminates in a small pro- 

 jecting tooth. The fur is long and thick, and the hair on the 

 upper part is dusky black colour over the greater part of its 

 length, but bright chestnut at the tip. The tips of the black 

 hair on the stomach are ash-gray. 

 The ears and the flying membrane 

 are nearly black,^ and the transverse 

 lines on the flying membrane are 

 very numerous. The Whiskered Bat 

 produces its young in the summer 

 (end of June or beginning of July). 

 It is rather a solitary creature, being 

 very often found singly in its place 

 of rest, though congregating in small 

 numbers during the breeding season 

 or when searching for food. This 

 bat occasionally appears in the daytime, and does not seem to 

 be as averse to daylight as others of its kind. Its hiding-place 

 is generally in walls, roofs, and any convenient cranny in a 

 building or in timber. Apart from the refuges ofi'ered by man, 

 it is probably a cavern-haunter, in contradistinction to bats which 

 make their home in hollow trees. It frequently flies low over 

 the surface of the water, like Daubenton's bat. Its occurrence in 

 England has been noted in the eastern counties and the Midlands, 

 from Kent to the Lake District, and from the Isle of Wight to 

 Norfolk. It appears to be quite absent from Scotland, but is 

 somewhat doubtfully to be met with in the west of Ireland. 



^ In some specimens a well-defined pure black spot appears on each 

 shoulder. 



Head of Whiskered Bat 

 (2^ times natural size). 



