BATS S9 



other bats. In its choice of habitation and mode of life, Natterer s bat (M. nattereri) 

 agrees with the last, especially as regards its solitary habits. It prefers wooded 

 districts and orchards, flies rather low and slowly, appears late in the evening, and 

 is found sleeping singly or in small parties in hollow trees, or in buildings. It is 

 sometimes called the fringed bat, on account of the fringed edge of the membrane 

 connecting the hind-legs with the tail. Nearly allied is the ciliated bat (M. 

 emarginatus), a continental species, easily recognised by the cilia or fine hairs 

 on the hind margin of the membrane between the legs. There are two other 

 representatives of this genus met with in Britain, namely, Daubenton's bat {M. 

 daubentoni), and the whiskered bat (M. mystacinus), but both are rare. 



From observations made in copper-mines at Alderley Edge, it appears that 

 the winter-sleep of the long-eared bat is interrupted, the bats probably feeding at 

 intervals on the insects which abound in the tunnels in winter, even if they do 

 not venture forth into the open. The same is probably true of Daubenton's bat, the 

 whiskered bat, and the lesser horseshoe-bat. When at rest, the latter species hangs 

 head downwards, with the wings folded, after the manner of flying foxes. The 

 posture of ordinary bats is quite different ; and it is curious that while the lesser 

 horseshoe-bat alights from the air in an inverted position, other bats, on first coming 

 to rest, do so with the head upwards, and then reverse their position. In regard to 

 the length of time that bats remain on the wing after emerging from their places of 

 retreat, in the case of the noctule, several observers having noted its return to its 

 hiding-place before the end of twilight, it was inferred that the duration of its 

 evening flight was only about an hour; but this has been negatived by other 

 observers who have watched these large bats on the wing from dusk until it 

 became too dark to see them any longer. The long-eared bat maintains its flight 

 throughout the night; and the same holds good for the pipistrelle and Daubenton's 

 bat. On the other hand, the hairy-armed bat restricts its flight to two short 

 periods, one in the evening and the other in the morning twilight ; and it is 

 possible that the noctule has similar habits, since it has been observed abroad on 

 one or two occasions in the early morning. Of the whiskered bat and Natterer's 

 bat nothing is known with regard to the duration of their flight, but, as they are 

 allied to the hairy-armed species, it may be inferred that their habits in this 

 respect are similar. July is the great month for breeding among British bats ; 

 and in the pipistrelle the period of gestation is not less than forty-one days, and 

 probably about sis weeks. At birth the young pipistrelle is flesh-coloured, blind, 

 and naked except for a few hairs on the muzzle. Fur begins to show in about a 

 week, and soon after imparts a golden tinge to the back and a more silvery tint 

 to the under-parts. When only a few days old young bats hang apart from their 

 parents, but at least up to the thirty-first day they do not attempt flight on their 

 own account. In certain habits Natterer's bat is intermediate between other 

 members of the Vespertilionida? and the horseshoe-bats. It has, for instance, the 

 habit of turning in the air, characteristic of the latter ; and, whereas in the horse- 

 shoe-bats the short tail is carried bent over the back, while in most British 

 Vespertilionidaj it is usually carried beneath the body, in Natterer's bat, despite 

 the fact of its being used as a pouch to contain the insect-food, it is borne extended 

 in the line of the bod}'. 



