Hoary Bat 



opened and a flood of light admitted, several hundred of the 

 little animals were discovered clinging in a compact mass to the 

 rough bricks and mortar of the chimney. They twisted up theit 

 ugly little faces and uttered their shrill squeaking objections, the 

 whole mass looking like a great tawny "hydra-headed" monster. 

 Upon stirring them with a stick the air immediately became 

 filled with bats, and there was a grand scurry for the openings 

 under the roof, whence they scattered in the unwelcome sunlight 

 in a mad rush for another shelter. One summer two little bats 

 were discovered hanging close together on the branch of a low 

 tree on the lawn; during the daytime the parent remained with 

 them, folding her wings about them, but at dusk she generally 

 left them while she foraged for food. After a couple of days, 

 however, they disappeared, doubtless transferred to some other 

 spot safe from prying eyes. 



Hoary Bat 



Lasiurus einereus (Beauvois) 



Length. 5.40 inches. Expanse of wings, 12 to 15 inches. 



Description. Much larger than the red bat, but with the same 

 distribution of fur over the interfemoral membrane. Fur 

 mingled dark-brown and light yellowish-brown, more or less 

 tipped with silvery white. White predominating below. 



Range. Maine, Ontario and mountains of New England, New York 

 and the Alleghanies, migrating southward in winter through- 

 out the United States. 



The hoary bat is the largest bat of the Northern and Mid- 

 dle States, and is the rarest of all our Eastern species. Even 

 in the North, where they make their home among the for- 

 ests and mountain wildernesses, they are only seen occasion- 

 illy, and still less frequently are specimens secured. Dr. C. 

 Hart Merriam has graphically described his efforts to obtain spe- 

 cimens of this rare animal in the Adirondacks. "The twilight 

 is fast fading into night," he writes, "and your eyes fairly ache 

 from the constant effort of searching its obscurity, when sud- 

 denly a large bat is seen approaching, perhaps high above the 

 tree tops, and has scarcely entered the limited field of vision, 

 When, in swooping for a passing insect, he cuts the line of a 



