2 5 8 FARM AND GARDEN 



are half the length of the head, so that when bent forwards their points just 

 touch the eyes. 



One continental member of the insect-eating mammals, the 

 musk-shrew (Crocidura suaveolens), is perhaps entitled to a place 

 here, since it is occasionally met with in houses, probably because it there finds 

 shelter and food. This species is distinguished by its twenty-eight teeth, and its 

 thin tail, which exceeds half the length of the body. In colour this shrew is 

 brownish grey above and grey below, the colours gradually blending ; its total 

 length is 4£ inches, of which the tail occupies If inches. 



Mouse-Coloured Among the bats there are a few species, which, though living 



Bat. principally in woods, occasionally resort to buildings. The best 



known of these is the mouse-coloured bat (Myotis murinus), which is greyish or 

 reddish brown above and brownish white below ; its total length being about 4i 

 inches, including the tail which measures 2£ inches, while the wing-spread is 15 

 inches. This bat ranges throughout central and southern Europe, northern Africa, 

 and central Asia; the northern limits of its area being Fiance, north Germany, 

 Scandinavia, and central Russia. It appears, however, not only in inhabited 

 towns and villages, but in the Alps up to 5000 feet, and in other mountainous 

 districts. Issuing forth late in the evening, or at night-fall, it flies low and 

 slowly, and never sleeps in hollows of trees. By day it hides away in buildings, 

 among roofs and steeples, or in vaults and caves, where it is often found by 

 hundreds, and in such places it hibernates. These bats sleep during the winter, 

 close together, hanging by their hind-legs, in large numbers. If the season be 

 mild, they wake up and move about ; but do not venture into the open air, and 

 in summer they do not fly in cold and unseasonable weather. The female has 

 only one young one at a time, and may be seen flying from the end of May till 

 July with its offspring, which is then old enough to take care of itself. 



The pipistrelle (Pipistrellus pygmceus), which is more frequently 

 seen in England than any other bat. has a high and rapid flight with 

 many sudden dips, curves, and turns. It often sleeps in old buildings and among 

 roofs, but sometimes chooses trees, either as a winter habitation or as a hiding-place, 

 and shelters in uninhabited districts in caves and rocky clefts. It appears earlier 

 than other bats in spring, and does not repair to winter - quarters before the 

 beginning of cold weather; while it may at times be seen abroad in mid-winter. 



Rough-Skinned A relative of the pipistrelle is the rough-skinned bat (P. natlmsii), 



Bat. which is dark smoky grey or yellowish above, and has the upper part 



of its wing-membrane down to the middle, as well as the lower portion of the leg, 

 covered with hair. The total length over all of this species is 3| inches, the wing- 

 spread being 9 inches. Apparently distributed through Europe, from the Rhine to 

 Russia and from north Germany to the Mediterranean, this bat ranges into 

 Sweden, and occurs on the southern slope of the Urals, and on the Alps as far up 

 as the St. Gothard. 



A few species of birds seem to have taken up their abode 



among buildings owing to the distant resemblance these bear to 



their native rocks. One such is the kestrel (Falco tinnunculus), and another the 



