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 
Lasturus cinereus (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- 
ally, 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 
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