i86 VESPERTILIONIDiE— MYOTIS 



The best account of this bat while in captivity is that of 

 Mr Coward/ based upon an example which he had in his 

 possession for some little time. He corroborates previous 

 writers in regard to the docility and gentleness of the species, 

 which readily acquired the habit of eating mealworms after 

 two had been placed in its mouth. Mr O. V. Aplin ^ alone 

 accuses it of fierceness : "having bitten, it retains its grip with 

 the tenacity of a bulldog." 



According to Mr Coward, the two most remarkable features 

 were the method of carrying the tail in flight and the manner 

 of alighting. Unlike many other species, such as its congener 

 the Whiskered Bat, it carried its tail in an extended position 

 behind it, not half-bent beneath the body. In spite of this, 

 the tail resumed the curve usual in bats when the animal rested 

 on a flat surface, and troublesome insects were pouched in the 

 orthodox manner if it was fed when hanging or resting in a 

 horizontal position. 



This bat devoured — besides mealworms — flies, bluebottles, 

 crane-flies, spiders, wood-lice, beetles and moths, in the latter 

 case rejecting the head and wings. Though usually attempt- 

 ing to eat anything that was offered to it, it was more particular 

 about its food than some other species, and it invariably 

 dropped cooked or uncooked meat or shreds of fish. " Most 

 spiders," Mr Coward writes, "were eaten rapidly, but one 

 or two with conspicuous markings were snatched and then 

 rejected ; a carnivorous beetle ^ was not only treated in the same 

 way, but the Bat, by spitting and shaking its head, showed 

 evident signs of disgust." 



" At times it used the carpus to hold a struggling mealworm, 

 and would stand, when engaged in eating, with one wing 

 slightly raised, as if ready to hold its prey if it proved too 

 powerful ; it never used the thumb in any way to tear its prey. 

 In its normal position when feeding, its head was held rather 

 low and its shoulders were somewhat hunched up. When 

 searching for food or flying round, it either held its mouth open 

 or chattered, opening and shutting its mouth with great 

 rapidity." Its sight appeared to be bad and it made many wild 

 snatches at nothing when an insect was moving in its cage, yet 



^ Zoologist^ iQOSj 51-56. ^ Ibid.^ 1889, 382. ^ Carabus. 



