50 THE NOCTULE OR GBEAT BAT. 



might not, in reality, constitute a distinct species, 

 but that perhaps they were only the males of the 

 common Bats; one of which, he thought,, might be 

 given for many females, as is the case in some other 

 quadrupeds. Since his time, however, they have 

 been satisfactorily ascertained to be distinct. 



On opening the above two animals, to discover, 

 if possible, on what they fed, Mr. White found 

 their stomachs quite full; but the food, (insects 

 chiefly, no doubt,) was so macerated, that the qua- 

 lity could not be distinguished. They each weighed 

 an ounce and a dram. Their smell was exceedingly 

 fetid and offensive*. 



Noctule Bats are chiefly found in France and 

 Germany; and they are much more common in all 

 parts of the old continent, than in Great Britain or 

 Ireland. They inhabit the gunpowder mills at 

 Dartford in Kent; and, about thirty years ago, 

 there were near two hundred and fifty caught, in 

 two succeeding nights, under the eaves of some of 

 the buildings of Queen's College, Cambridge, 

 The specimens I examined were some, of a great 

 number, which had been found, in a dormant 

 state, during winter, concealed in the leaden pipes 

 of a house at Richmond upon Thames. 



* White's Works, i. p. 158. 



THE 



