A GIFT OF GOD 41 



first for altivolens, the noctule ; but, whilst I watched 

 him, he was quite a low flier, and he seemed to be a 

 little smaller and more agile than a noctule. Perhaps 

 he is Daubenton's bat, which, I believe, I have seen 

 hawking over the Test, whilst I have been fishing for 

 the great trout in the glorious pool at Kimbridge ; or he 

 may be a scarcer species. This bat is not matchless 

 for straightforward speed on the wing. He seems no 

 quicker than the little pipistrelle bat, and is quite 

 without the splendid sweep and cut of the swift 

 which, at a few minutes before nine o'clock at summer's 

 height has scarcely rushed to roost ere the bat comes 

 forth from roost. 



He does not curve and glide with the swift's state- 

 liness ; rather, he flips to and fro by a number of 

 small, quick wing strokes. It is not here that his 

 flight is wonderful or worth special mention, but in 

 his dives and tumbles and glances to one side and 

 the other, and his thrusts upward. The quickness 

 and suddenness with which he makes these move- 

 ments are amazing. When I am near enough, and 

 the air is dead calm, often a tiny snapping or clicking 

 sound tells me that one of these movements has given 

 the bat an insect. Probably the prey is rarely missed. 

 No bird movement on the wing is quite like this 

 of the bat. Swift and sand-martin take their food 

 at a high speed, but they do not twist and jerk and 

 somersault upon it like this bat ; they rush upon 

 it, rise or drop to it, or swerve at it with more even, 



