42 ANIMAL LIFE OF THE BRITISH ISLES. 



myriads of Bats between the two places ; the air swarmed with 

 them all along the Thames, so that hundreds were in sight at 

 a time." This was long before it had been distinguished as 

 a distinct species, and when it would probably have been 

 regarded as the Common Bat. 



It is clothed with short, dense fur, of a grizzled warm brown 

 colour on the upper parts, and lighter brown or buffy grey, 

 sometimes so pale as to show a distinct line of separation along 

 the sides from the angle of the lips to the thigh. The face is 

 dusky, and the ears and wing membrane are of a reddish dusky 

 tint. The interfemoral membrane is whitish below, and there 

 are whitish hairs on the toes. The membrane arises from the 

 middle of the foot. 



In size it is a little larger than the Whiskered Bat and the 

 Common Bat, but smaller than Leisler's Bat. The head and 

 body measure about two inches, the tail an inch and a quarter, 

 the ear half an inch ; the wing expanse is about nine inches. 

 The fore-leg and foot are conspicuously large. The ear has a 

 rounded tip, and a shallow concavity on the upper part of the 

 hind margin ; the lance- shaped tragus is about half the length 

 of the ear. The spur or calcar of the foot extends three-fourths 

 of the distance between the foot and the tail. The last two 

 joints of the latter usually extend beyond the membrane. 



For its daytime rest it retires to crevices in trees, walls, caves 

 or roofs, often in numbers, but its resorts have not the evil smell 

 that such places frequently give off. It has a low soft chirp, 

 less shrill than the cry of the Common Bat. In hibernation- 

 which extends from the end of September to about the middle 

 of April it is no longer sociable, but hangs alone in some dark 

 cave. 



There is a single young one, born in June or July. 



Its ran^e extends from Ireland to Asia, and from the 

 Mediterranean to central Norway. 



