G8 OCCASIONAL PAPERS. 



not otherwise often seen. I remember once going 

 into a chalk cave and finding four species, the 

 Pipistrelle, Noctule, Long-eared Bat, and the Lesser 

 Horse- Shoe Bat having the curious leaf-like append- 

 age to the nose. 



Again we may study birds as well during the winter 

 as in summer, perhaps some species better. The little 

 Tits may be seen in flocks of about a dozen flitting 

 in and out of the hedgerows, or busily running up 

 and down the stems of trees searching for sleeping 

 insects ; the little Wren often scuds across the road a 

 foot or two above the ground ; the song of the Skylark 

 may be heard on a sunny day in any month of the year. 

 The habits of most of our birds change as they don 

 their winter plumage ; they begin to flock together 

 in great numbers, especially the Starlings, the Larks, 

 the Finches, &c. The Chaffinch is seen in large 

 flocks-, containing only males, very few females arje to 

 be seen, and these mostly in the south. Another 

 question here arises Why this collecting together 

 in flocks ? And why in winter and not in summer ? 

 Well we, perhaps, can understand why not in summer, 

 because of the family duties which engage them, 

 and the intense rivalry and jealousy of the males. 

 These feelings, however, die away with the siimmer 

 months. Do they congregate in the winter for 

 warmth, or for food? Scarcely the latter, since it 

 would be easier to obtain food singly. 



Then there are the birds of passage those going 

 and those coming ; the Swift, the Swallow, the 

 Cuckoo, and others disappearing ; the Fieldfare, 

 the Eedwing, the Hooded Crow, &c., coming. The 

 Jatter, as of course you know, frequents the shore and. 



