MOTH HUK'iTSG. 245 



trelle (Vespertili pipistrettus\ already alluded to, is at once the 

 most abundant and the smallest of the number, and the one 

 which most frequents the haunts of man. It particularly affects 

 the neighbourhood of ponds and rivers, flying about the trees and 

 over the surface of the water in search of gnats and other small 

 two-winged insects, of which its food principally consists. This 

 little Bat, however, has the reputation, in some parts of the 

 country, of flying down the chimneys of the farmhouses, and 

 feasting on the suspended flitches of bacon, and though the 

 story has often been laughed at, there seems good reason to be- 

 lieve that it is strictly true. Certain it is, the Pipistrelle has a 

 great partiality for cold joints, and not unfrequently finds its way 

 to them in the pantry, and makes a hearty meal. 



Equally abundant with the Pipistrelle in some parts of the 

 country is the Long-eared Bat (Plecotus auritus). 



In the month of October, when the ivy is in full blossom, and 

 much frequented by moths and other insects, this elegant Bat, 

 in company with the Pipistrelle, may constantly be seen in early 

 dusk 



" The moth-time of uight," 



passing and repassing the ivy-covered walls of its hunting- 

 grounds, and eagerly snapping up the moths that come to settle 

 on the blossoms ; and so intent are they on their work, that 

 any one provided with an insect-net may capture them without 

 difficulty. It would appear, indeed, that this same season of the 

 year is the harvest-time of the Bats, for they are then always 

 plump and fat, well provided with that accumulation of substance 

 which is necessary to fepair the waste of the system during the 

 long fast of their winter sleep. 



The largest of our native Bats is the Noctule (Noctulinia 

 aHivolans), the great High-flying Bat of White's " Selborne," in 

 which it was first noticed and described. It is over fourteen 

 inches in the expanse of its wings, the Pipistrelle being but eight 

 or nine inches ; and Mr. Jesse mentions the finding at Hampton 

 Court Palace of the skeleton of a Bat which must have been 

 as large as a pigeon. The historian of Selborne notices the fact 

 that the Noctule ranges very high for its food, exactly as the 

 Swifts do, and furthermore, that they both disappear much 

 earlier than their congeners ; whence he very naturally infers 



