AMERICAN BATS — HANDLE Y 177 



sites. For information on dates of movements to and from nursery 

 and hibernating roosts, see pp. 171, 180, and 183. 



Homing: Only Goclo-um (1956a, p. 49) has reported homing experi- 

 ments with P. toionsendii. He secured 54 individuals from a cave in 

 Arizona in May. These were released at a point 28 mUes away. 

 Three of the bats were recovered at the home cave two days later and 

 a fourth two months later. 



Flight: After spending several hours swinging a butterfly net in 

 a nearly futile attempt to capture P. townsendii confined in a room, 

 Dalquest (1947, p. 24) concluded that this bat sees well, is a swift 

 flier, an agile dodger, and possesses an excellent sense for danger. 

 Hundreds, if not thousands, of sweeps netted but one bat in free 

 flight. 



Not only is P. townsendii adroit at avoiding hand-operated nets, 

 but some characteristic keeps it from becoming entangled in mist nets 

 as well. Although these nets are very effective for capturing many 

 species of bats, those that do not forage near the ground and those 

 whose flight is slow, cautious, and butterfly-like are seldom taken. 

 Also, perhaps those with an unusually well developed echo location 

 apparatus can detect and avoid the nets more readily. Only Baker 

 (1956, p. 187) has reported taking P. townsendii in a mist net. 



The flight of captive big-eared bats has been described in detail by 

 Grinnell (1918, p. 344) and Dalquest (1947, p. 25). In the confinement 

 of a room, the flight pattern most often was a figure eight, varied with 

 ovals and circles, extending from floor level to the beamed recesses 

 of the ceiling. Flight character varied from hovering like a humming- 

 bird to slow and butterfly-like to swift and swallow-like. Wing-beats, 

 deep and smooth, often alternated with short glides. In average 

 flight the head was bent ventrally so that the body formed a smooth 

 curve from chin to tip of tail. The ears, pointed forv/ard and held 

 almost parallel to the horizontal plane of the body, were, surprisingly, 

 scarcely noticeable. The legs were spread apart so that the inter- 

 femoral membrane was expanded. I have noted that in slow flight 

 the head is not so depressed and the ears are more conspicuous, as 

 they are held more nearly perpendicular to the horizontal plane of the 

 body. On some occasions the flight of P. townsendii may be silent, 

 with no squeaking, swishing, or fluttering. At other times it is 

 relatively noisy. 



When it alights on a wall or ceiling, P. townsendii swoops up from 

 below, its wings close, and with great agility it flips over so that its 

 feet become foremost and almost simultaneously grasp a foothold. 



Resting posture: In ordinary sleep the big-eared bat normally 

 hangs free, suspended only by the feet (see Dalquest, 1947, p. 25, for 

 a detailed description). Many observers have noted its peculiarity 



