BATS. 43 



At present, I know only two species of bats, the common 

 vespertilio murinus, and the vespertilio auribus.* 



I was much entertained last summer with a tame bat,f 

 which would take flies out of a person' * hand. If you gave 



* Dr. Fleming, in his Description of British Animals, 1828, enumerates 

 seven species included in the genera rhinolophus, or those having membranes 

 upon the nose ; vespertilio, including our common bat ; and plecotus, those 

 with large ears. W. J. 



There are from twenty to twenty-three varieties of bats found in this 

 country. It is curious that so observant a naturalist as Mr. White should 

 only know of two. ED. 



*f We are indebted to Mr. George Daniell for the following particulars of the 

 habits of two species of British bats, which were kept by him in confinement. 

 They were originally given to me as a commentary on the statement in the 

 text; but were subsequently communicated, at my request, to the Zoological 

 Society at its meeting on November 11, 1834. 



" In July, 1833," Mr. Daniell says, " I received five specimens of the 

 pipistrelle bat from Elvetham, Hants; all of which were pregnant females. 

 There were many more congregated with them in the ruins of the barn in 

 which they were taken ; but the rest escaped. They were brought to me in 

 a tin powder canister, in which they had been kept for several days ; and on 

 turning them loose into a common packing-case, with a few strips of deal 

 nailed over its front to form a cage, they pleased me much by the great 

 activity which they displayed in the larger space into which they had been 

 introduced ; progressing rapidly along the bottom of the box, ascending by the 

 bars to the top, and then throwing themselves off as if endeavouring to fly. 

 I caught some flies and offered one of them to one of the bats, which seized 

 it with the greatest eagerness, and devoured it greedily, and then thrust its 

 nose repeatedly through the bars, with its jaws extended, closing them from 

 time to time, with a snap, and evincing the utmost anxiety to obtain an 

 additional supply of this agreeable food. The flies were then offered to the 

 whole of them, and the same ravenous disposition was displayed ; all the 

 bats crowding together at the end of the box at which they were fed, and 

 crawling over, snapping at, and biting each other like so many curs, uttering 

 at the same time a disagreeable grating squeak, I soon found that my 

 pets were so hungry as to require more time to be expended in fly-catching 

 than I was disposed to devote to them ; and I then tried to feed them with 

 cooked meat : but this they rejected. Raw beef was, however, eaten with 

 avidity ; and an evident preference was given to those pieces which had been 

 moistened with water. The feeding with beef answered exceedingly well, two 

 objects being gained by it : the bats were enabled to feed without assistance ; 

 and my curiosity was gratified by observing them catching flies for themselves. 



" A slice of beef attached to the side of the box in which they were kept 

 not only spared me the trouble of feeding them, but also, by attracting the 

 flies, afforded good sport in observing the animals obtain their own food by 

 this new kind of bat-fowling. The weather being warm, many blue-bottle 

 flies were attracted by the meat ; and on one of these approaching within 

 range of the bats' wings, it was sure to be struck down by their action, the 



