38 ANIMAL LIFE OF THE BRITISH ISLES. 



enjoys its daytime rest apart from its kin it has been taken 

 in numbers on several occasions. It makes its appearance 

 early in the evening, flying low along hedgerows, plantations, 

 and cliffs, its method of hunting being not to chase flying 

 insects in the air but to pick off such as have settled on leaves 

 and twigs. It may also be seen at times flying in the daytime. 

 It has a fondness for the neighbourhood of woods and water, 

 where it finds many flies, beetles, and moths in flight. It is 

 quite silent on the wing. 



Mr. Oldham describes the flight of the Whiskered Bat as 

 " slow, steady, and silent I have never heard this species 

 squeak on the wing. Individuals did not appear to wander far, 

 but confined their attentions to single pools or short stretches 

 of the stream, where they flitted about the alder-bushes or 

 threaded their way with marvellous precision through the 

 lower branches of the sycamore trees. I never saw one rise to 

 a greater height than twenty feet, and often they flew within a 

 few inches of the ground or skimmed the surface of a pool for 

 a yard or two, only to rise again to resume their flight around 

 the alders." 



It is not very particular where it takes its daytime sleep. 

 Any sort of shelter will do, whether it be a hollow tree or under 

 a piece of loose bark, a hole in the wall, a roof, or behind 

 window shutters. Its hibernation is passed by preference in a 

 cave, whence it emerges for a flight whenever the weather is 

 fine. In spite of its customary silence, it can produce a feeble 

 squeak. 



On the wing it is not easily distinguished from the Pipistrelle, 

 which is so similar in size ; but the noisiness of the Pipistrelle 

 compared with the silence of the Whiskered Bat is the best 

 guide. 



The solitary young one is born in June or July. 



It is widely distributed throughout England, with the ex- 

 ception of East Anglia. In Yorkshire it has been found at an 



