84 BATS RAIN. 



It would not be at all strange if your bat, which 

 you have procured, should prove a new one, since 

 five species have been found in a neighbouring 

 kingdom. The great sort that I mentioned is cer- 

 tainly a nondescript : I saw but one this summer, 

 and that I had no opportunity of taking. 



Your account of the Indian grass was entertain- 

 ing. I am no angler myself; but inquiring of those 

 that are, what they supposed that part of their 

 tackle to be made of, they replied, "of the intes- 

 tines of a silkworm." 



Though I must not pretend to great skill in ento- 

 mology, yet I cannot say that I am ignorant of that 

 kind of knowledge : I may now and then perhaps be 

 able to furnish you with a little information. 



The vast rain ceased with us much about the 

 same time as with you, and since, we have had 

 delicate weather. Mr. Barker, who has measured 

 the rain for more than thirty years, says, in a late 



in the pairing season, and at no great distance from each 

 other, the noise, mingling with the echoes from the mountains, 

 is really surprising. Strangers, in parts of the country where 

 these birds are numerous, find it almost impossible for some 

 time to sleep ; while to those long acquainted with them, the 

 sound often serves as a lullaby, to assist their repose. The 

 notes seem pretty plainly to articulate the words which have 

 been generally applied to them, ' Whip-poor-will,' the first and 

 last syllables being uttered with great emphasis, and the whole 

 in about a second to each repetition ; but when two or more 

 males meet, their whip-poor-will altercations become much 

 more rapid and incessant, as if each were straining to over- 

 power or silence the other. When near, you often hear an 

 introductory cluck between the notes. At these times, as 

 well as almost at all others, they fly low, not more than a few 

 feet from the surface, skimming about the house, and before the 

 door, alighting on the wood- pile, or settling on the roof. 

 Towards midnight they generally become silent, unless in clear 

 moonlight, when they are heard, with little intermission, till 

 morning." W. J. 



