So OUTDOOR LIFE IN ENGLAND 



down, right and left, never seeming to tire so 

 long as there is an insect to be captured. Thus 

 in their generations they perform the duties 

 allotted to them, and are worthy of our grati- 

 tude. We should fare ill without them, but they 

 are gruesome, ghostly little animals, and it is 

 not remarkable that, in the days of superstition, 

 they should have been regarded as spirits of evil 

 and creatures of ill omen. 



There have been no fewer than fifteen varieties 

 of bats observed in Britain. Most of these are 

 rare. 



The long-eared bat, the common bat, and the 

 great or noctule bat are most frequently met 

 with, the two first-named more especially ; the 

 last is only found in certain localities. Jar- 

 dine, in his work on Bats, mentions the fact of 

 nearly 250 of this variety having been captured 

 in two successive days under the eaves of King's 

 College, Cambridge. He states that it generally 

 flies in bands of about a dozen ; is seldom to be 

 met with singly ; that its flight is remarkably high 

 and rapid ; that it comes abroad earlier in the 

 evening than any other species, adding that for 

 this latter reason the name ' noctule ' is singu- 

 larly inapplicable. The same author observes 

 that it is later in leaving its winter retreat than 

 other bats, and withdraws early in autumn. It 

 emits a shrill cry when on the wing. It inhabits 

 churches, buildings of various kinds, and hollow 

 trees. It is the largest but one of our British 



