278 BA TS 



manoeuvre which at first looks like the falling of a tumbler-pigeon, but on closer 

 observation proves to be simply the closing of the wings, and a consequent drop of 

 about a foot. Sometimes this is repeated every few yards as long as he is in sight. 

 It is occasioned by some large and intractable insect having been captured, and the 

 anterior joint of the wing, with its well-armed thumb, is required to assist in retain- 

 ing it until masticated. Sometimes, however, food is not so easily obtained. With 

 a cold east wind, or, indeed, a strong wind from any quarter, a change of hunting- 

 ground is required; and the noctule may often be seen taking a humble and silent 

 flight in some sheltered and warm corner, fluttering about with half-closed wings, 

 and appearing to be very little at home, or indeed like himself, for we recall an 

 instance where several were shot under the belief that they were of some unknown 

 species. ' ' 



In Sikkim and Nipal the habits of the noctule appear to be much the same as 

 in Europe, but it does not hibernate. In Nipal it appears to be of rare occurrence, 

 as Dr. Scully states that he only procured one specimen, which was caught in the 

 following manner, during the month of July: "About eight o'clock in the eve- 

 ning," writes Dr. Scully, "I heard the very shrill scream of some small animal in 

 my bedroom, and, on going into the room, I found this bat attached to the mosquito 

 net covering my bed. In its flight, it had apparently alighted on the net, and there 

 got its claws so firmly entangled that it could not escape." 



In White's Natural History of Selborne, it is stated that the noctule is not to 

 be seen on the wing before the end of April, nor later than July. Other observers 

 have, however, seen this bat in Hampshire and Sussex in August and September, 

 while one instance is on record of its appearance in Cambridgeshire as late as the 

 first week in November. 



Closely allied to the noctule is the British species known as the 

 g hairy-armed bat ( V. leisleri). Its popular name is derived from the 



presence of a broad band of fine short hairs on the under side of 

 the wing membrane running from the fore-arm to the wrist. Since, however, this 

 feature is also found in the noctule, it is obviously not distinctive of the species to 

 which it gives the name, and we must therefore -seek for another characteristic by 

 which to distinguish the two species. Such a characteristic is found in the incisor 

 teeth. In the hairy-armed bat the outer pair of these teeth in the upper jaw is 

 equal in cross-section at the base to the inner pair, but the height of their crowns is 

 much less; whereas in the noctule the former is much wider at the base than the 

 latter, while it also has the crown hollowed out to receive the summit of the lower 

 tusk, or canine. Then, again, the lower incisor teeth in the hairy-armed bat form 

 a regular semicircle, with scarcely any overlapping of one over another; whereas in 

 the noctule they have broad crowns, are set obliquely in the jaw, and largely over- 

 lap one another. Such characteristics may seem trivial and unimportant, but they 

 are amply sufficient to prove the specific distinctness of the hairy-armed bat, which 

 is, moreover, a considerably smaller animal than the noctule, the combined length 

 of the head and body being rather less than two and a half inches. Needless to say, 

 however, these two bats are often confounded together, although careful attention 

 to the points mentioned will always serve to distinguish them. Moreover, careful 



