48 ANIMAL LIFE OF THE BRITISH ISLES. 



The Great Bat flies all through the year with the exception 

 of January and the latter part of December. Pied and almost 

 black variations from the normal colouring have been recorded. 



The sexes are said to separate into distinct colonies in the 

 summer : the females retiring to trees. The single young is 

 born naked and blind towards the end of June. When they 

 get their fur they are much darker than the adults. 



Although the Great Bat is generally distributed as far north 

 as Yorkshire, Durham, and the Lake District, it is common 

 only in the South of England, from Norfolk to Cornwall, but 

 is rare in the Isle of Wight. It is not recorded from Ireland. 

 Formerly, it was not considered a native of Scotland, but in 

 recent years several examples have been captured there. It 

 is found throughout the greater part of Europe and adjacent 

 parts of Asia. 



Bat (Nyctalus leisleri, Kuhl). 



It is not necessary to give a detailed description of Leisler's 

 or the Hairy-winged Bat, for it is a miniature edition of the 

 Great Bat in a darker binding. The length of the head and 

 body is two and a half inches and of the tail an inch and 

 a half. The wing expanse is thirteen inches and a quarter. 

 The fur on the upper parts is a darker brown than that of the 

 Great Bat, but it is lighter on the under parts. The skull is 

 only half the size of that species, and the entire build is lighter 

 and less massive. Owing to this difference in size it is not so 

 likely to be mistaken on the wing for the Great Bat as for the 

 Common Bat. It is without the strong odour of the Great Bat. 

 It agrees with the latter in its high flight, but its movements 

 are not so swift and are more zig-zag. 



It is one of the rarest of our Bats, and like the Great Bat a 

 woodland species, making its dormitory preferably high up in 

 a decayed oak, but also in the roofs and crevices of buildings. 



