THE BARBASTELLE. 83 



occasion, with the Barbastelle was received a specimen of 

 V, mystacinus, three of V. Nattereri, and several of Pie- 

 cotus auritus. These little prisoners, when brought into a 

 warm room, soon began to exhibit signs of vivacity ; and 

 the Barbastelle, with the others, fed readily on small bits 

 of meat, and drank water. He was a timid animal, 

 and did not evince the slightest disposition to become 

 familiar ; he would take his food, however, with his 

 companions, and was accustomed to rest with them in 

 a cluster, at the top of the box in which they were 

 placed. The Barbastelle certainly became torpid more 

 readily than any of the others, and more completely 

 so ; but when awake, evinced extreme restlessness, and 

 was incessantly biting with great violence at the wires of 

 his box. When suffered to fly about the room, he flew 

 very low, and less actively than any other under similar 

 circumstances ; and he was fond of lying before the fire 

 on the hearth rug, where he appeared quite to luxuriate 

 in the warmth. Whilst the Long eared Bats evinced 

 much attachment to each other, and became very familiar 

 with me, the Barbastelle remained sullen and apart ; 

 until at length I found that he was an object of persecu- 

 tion on the part of his more active companions, one of 

 whom I detected in the act of giving him a severe bite 

 on the back of the neck. This occasioned his immediate 

 removal to another box ; but this sharp discipline pro- 

 bably hastened his death, which took place about a 

 week afterwards, though he continued to eat till the 

 day before he died. The specimen was a male, and 

 apparently adult. 



The situation in which this specimen was found -per- 

 fectly agrees with the observation of M. Geoffrey, who 

 says, " Je 1'ai trouve a de grandes profondeurs dans les 

 souterrains de Charlemont." 



M 2 



