34 LLOYD'S NATURAL HISTORY. 



Bats, taken from beneath the roof of Queen's College, Cam- 

 bridge, on a single night very many years ago, and sixty-five on 

 the following evening, were, indeed, referred to this species ; 

 but, as Bell remarks, it is probable that these were not sub- 

 mitted to a careful examination, and may, therefore, have in- 

 cluded members of other species. Generally frequenting well- 

 wooded districts, and feeding chiefly on cockchafers and other 

 large beetles, the Noctule usually selects a hollow tree for its 

 diurnal resting-place in summer. Indeed, Bell states that he 

 has never known one taken from any other situation. A later 

 observer states, however, that he has known these Bats select 

 thick ivy as a place of concealment ; while Mr. Harting 

 records having seen them resort to the thatched roofs of 

 cottages in Sussex, where they crept up beneath the eaves. 

 For their winter haunts they select indifferently either hollow 

 trees or the roofs of buildings. 



Since this Bat appears early in the evening, its title of "Noc- 

 tule " is somewhat misleading, although it is too well established 

 to be changed ; the name of Great Bat being decidedly no 

 better. In the high regions of the air, where it delights to fly, 

 on account of the abundance of beetles to be met with there, 

 its flight is powerful and sustained ; and when on the wing it 

 gives utterance to a sharp and harsh cry. As mentioned by 

 White, these Bats have a strong and offensive odour, which 

 renders a colony of them exceedingly unpleasant to have any- 

 thing to do with. Although in some English examples which 

 were kept in captivity it was found that only a single offspring 

 was produced at a birth, the experience of continental observers 

 shows that there is more commonly a pair. When first intro- 

 duced into the world, the young are perfectly naked, as well as 

 blind. 



It is stated that when hibernating in winter, the Noctule 

 generally associates, after the manner of many of its kindled, 



