266 Mr. Sowerby on the Habits of the Long-eared Bat. 
which was much more acute than that of the Cricket. Now 
was the proper time for feeding him. I before stated that he 
only took his food alive: it was also observed that not only 
was motion necessary, but that generally some noise on the 
part of the fly was required to induce him to accept it; and 
this fact was soon discovered by the children, who were en- 
tertained by his taking flies from their fingers as he flew by 
them, before he was bold enough to settle upon their hands 
to devour his victims. ‘They quickly improved upon their 
discovery, and by imitating the booming of a bee, induced 
the bat, deceived by the sound, to settle upon their faces, 
wrapping his wings round their lips and searching for the ex- 
pected fly. We observed that if he took a fly while on the 
wing, he frequently settled to masticate it; and when he had 
been flying about a long time he would rest upon a curtain, 
pricking his ears and turning his head in all directions, 
when if a fly were made to buzz, or the sound imitated, he 
would proceed directly to the spot, even on the opposite side 
of the room, guided, it should appear, entirely by the ear. 
Sometimes he took his victim in his mouth, even though it 
was not flying; at other times he inclosed it in his wings, with 
which he formed a kind of bag-net; this was his general plan 
when in his cage, or when the fly was held in our fingers or 
between our lips. 
From these observations I should conclude that many of 
the movements of the Bat upon the wing are directed by his 
exquisite sense of hearing. May not the sensibility of this 
organ be naturally greater in those animals whose organs of 
vision are too susceptible to bear daylight, when those organs, 
from their nature, would necessarily be of most service? such 
as the cat, who hunts much by the ear, and the mole, who 
feeding in the dark recesses of his subterranean abode is very 
sensible of the approach of danger and expert in avoiding it. 
In the latter case large external ears are not required, because 
sound is well conveyed by solids and along narrow cavities. 
In the cases of many bats and of owls the external ears are 
remarkably developed. Cats combine a quickness of sight 
with acute hearing; they hunt by the ear, but they follow their 
prey by the eye. Some bats are said to feed upon fruits; have 
they the same delicacy of hearing, feeling, &c. as others ?. 
