70 ABOUT BATS 



NOTES 



LINE 15. the best popular names. Reremouse (or rearmouse), 

 so called from the flapping movement of the bat's wings (A.S. 

 hre'ran, to agitate) ; flitter-mouse = flutter-mouse. 



159. a covyne of witches. An assembly or meeting of witches 

 (Lat. con, and venire to come). [As a law-term ' covin ', or 

 ' covine ', means secret agreement, or fraud.] 



EXERCISES 



1. What kinds of bats are found in our country ? How do 

 you distinguish them from one another ? 



2. Describe the habits, habitat, structure, &c. of the bat. 



3. How is it proved that bats ' feel at a distance ' ? 



4. Describe the poetical aspect of bat-life. 



5. How has superstition arisen around the bat ? 



ARIEL'S SONG 



WHERE the bee sucks, there suck I; 



In a cowslip's bell I lie : 



There I couch when owls do cry. 



On the bat's back I do fly 



After summer merrily. 

 Merrily, merrily shall I live now 

 Under the blossom that hangs on the bough. 



SHAKESPEARE : The Tempest, v. i. 



EXERCISES 



1. Describe your idea of the joys of fairy life. 



2. Give the history of Ariel. 



3. What is the metre here ? Why are trochees and dactyl* 

 preferred to iambuses ? 



