38 THE COMMON OR LITTLE BAT, 



animals in the mass, to illustrate the shrieks of his 

 ghosts in the infernal regions : 



As in the cavern of some rifled den, 



Where flock nocturnal Bats, and birds obscene; 



Cluster'd they hang, till at some sudden shock 



They move, and murmurs run through all the rock : 



So cow'ring fleet the sable heaps of ghosts, 



And such a stream fill'd all the dismal coasts. 



rim; 



,o:)n 



grift. . . ,- L. ' y . . ' .. > .. 



I/SO' 1 " 



' 

 THE COMMON OR LITTLE BAT*. 



i 



FJ,ITTE'R-MOUSE, RERE'MOUSE, -OR RANNER-MOUSE. 



Tffisis one of the two species of Bats which we 

 so often observe, in the fine evenings of summer, 

 flitting about in search of gnats and other insects. 

 It commences its flight at the beginning of twi- 

 light, and haunts, principally, the neighbourhood 

 of old or ruinous buildings, woods, and shady 

 lanes. It generally flies near the ground, with an 

 irregular and jirking kind of motion, and is not 

 unfrequently to be observed skimming along just 

 above the surface of rivers, in search of aquatic 



: 



* Vespeftilio murinus. Linnccus. La Chauve-souris, Buffon. 

 For the Description of thrs Bat, see the Synopsis, p. 4. No. 1 . 



insects 



