74 TH E BRITISH MAMMALS : THEIR GENERA AND SPECIES. 



The Hairy-armed Bat is a small edition of the Noctule, with the 

 fringe of hair down the under-side of the fore-arm rather more 

 marked, and the lower incisor teeth neatly arranged instead of 

 crowded together. In colour it is dark brown both above and below, 

 but the hairs on the upper surface are tipped with yellowish, while 

 those below are tipped with light brown. The head and body 

 measure just over two inches and a quarter, the tail about an inch 

 and three-quarters. It flies at all heights, and ranges from 

 Ireland, through England, across Europe into Asia north of the 

 Himalaya. 



The Pipistrelle is the smallest and commonest of British bats. 

 Its ears are broadly triangular, rounded at the tips, like the earlets, 

 with their outer edge ending in a large lobe. The head and face are 

 rather hairy, the muzzle short, the glandular prominences con- 

 spicuous, and the nostrils opening forwards. In colour it is rufous 

 brown, the hairs above being black on the basal half, those below 

 having ashy tips. The head and body measure under an inch and 

 three quarters, and the tail under an inch and a half. The ear 

 is about half an inch long, the fore-arm measures an inch and a 

 quarter, and the characteristically long fifth digit reaches an inch 

 and a half. The wing-spread is between eight and nine inches. 

 The feet are small, with a broad lobe of membrane behind the spur. 

 It feeds mainly on gnats and flies, and suits its flight to capture 

 them buoyant, brisk, capricious, up and down, high as the tree- 

 tops, low as within a foot of the water but averaging on calm even- 

 ings about three men's lengths from the ground. It seems as fearless 

 of man as the sparrow, and is found in many a town where there are 

 open spaces large enough for it to hunt over from sunset to sunrise. 

 It is found all over England, Ireland, and Scotland, and it ranges 

 from the Outer Hebrides, across Europe, into Northern Africa, and 

 as far south-east in Asia as the Vale of Kashmir. Like the other 

 bats it sleeps during the winter, but it is hardier and earlier, 

 appearing in March and not retiring until November, and it has 

 been known to wake up and take advantage of an occasional warm 

 day in January and February. 



Vulpes. Plate v. CARNIVORA. 



22. vulgaris, Fox. Tail bushy ; claws short, blunt, and not 



retractile. 



The Fox is generally reddish-brown above a.nd white and pale 

 grey below, with black on the back of the ears and the front of the 

 feet, whitish brows, and a white tip to the long bushy tail; but the 

 colouration varies a good deal, the gaunt " Hill Fox," or " Grey- 

 hound Fox," of Scotland and the Border uplands like the big, 

 thick-set " Mastiff Fox," and the short-legged " Terrier Fox "- 

 being very grey. Sometimes the tail is tipped with black, as in the 

 " Cur Fox," "occasionally with grey, and a certain Warwickshire fox 

 is on record which, like the " Welsh Fox," had the underparts 

 blackish instead of white, The bead is broad, the muzzle long an4 



