BATS 



gorge themselves with insects, feeding twice in 

 the twenty-four hours a good supper in the 

 evening, a good breakfast in the morning ; but 

 to see the daybreak flight you must be up 

 early, before the sun, for they are off home to 

 their hiding-places as soon as the light gets 

 strong. 



When watching bats on the wing, the first 

 thing that strikes you is that there are big and 

 little ones, some much bigger than the others, 

 flying straight and strong like birds high in 

 the sky, while the medium-sized ones fly lower, 

 and the smallest flitter and flutter round the 

 bushes. They are not old and young ones, or 

 anything of that sort, but different kinds, 

 for we have no less than twelve sorts of 

 bats in this country. The commonest are the 

 pipistrelle, or ' flitter-mouse,' the one which 

 seems to fly so weakly ; the noctule, or great 

 bat, the high-flying one, which is much bigger ; 

 and the long-eared bat, which is of a medium 

 size, and flies in and out about the trees. The 

 latter can be known at once, as it has such 

 very long ears, almost as long as its body ; no 

 other British bat has ears anything like them. 

 When not in use these ears are curled up and 

 tucked back under the wings for safety, only 



5 



