BRITISH BATS. 45 



in. lines. 



Cubitus 1 5 



Second finger ... ... ... 1 4 



Third finger 2 9 



This barbastelle was taken in an old chalk-pit, 

 near Aldenham Abbey, in Hertfordshire, and lived 

 for some two months in my possession, being 

 liberated towards the close of autumn, in order to 

 seek proper hibernating quarters. It was much 

 less familiar in its habits than the other bats, never 

 feeding when it thought itself observed, and always 

 carrying its food to the darkest corner of its cage ; 

 the wings, however, were never extended over its 

 prey when feeding. My specimen seemed to prefer 

 crickets (Acheta domestica) to every other kind of 

 diet, entirely refusing raw meat, and seeming to 

 look down on moths in much the same way as 

 a charity boy might despise the customary stale 

 bread and scrape after a good hearty gorge on 

 plum- cake. 



My barbastelle was a pugnacious little beast, and 

 once had a regular " set to " with a male noctule, 

 the barbastelle managing to squeeze himself through 

 a very small aperture in the partition which 

 separated them. My attention was attracted by 

 hearing an unusual squeaking, and on looking into 

 the cage, I found the two combatants firmly 

 fastened on each other and rolling about in most 



