NOCTULE BAT 



to this rule. Where Bats congregate, especially in 

 Winter, when, with the exception of the Pipistrelle and 

 perhaps one or two others, they hibernate, or lay up 

 for several months in a state of suspended animation, 

 large numbers may be found together. They cling to 

 one another by means of the sharp " claws," evidently 

 firm believers in the motto that " Union is strength." 

 Upon the ground they are awkward and ungainly, 

 shuffling along in a cumbersome way unpleasant to 

 witness. The air is their home, and in this respect they 

 strikingly remind one of the Swift, a bird which, owing 

 to the shortness of its legs and the long, sickle-shaped 

 wings, is often unable to rise when once it finds itself 

 upon the ground. 



Possessed of wonderful powers of endurance upon the 

 wing, darting hither and thither unceasingly in the 

 gathering gloom ; keen-eared and maybe keen-scented, 

 with sensitive, membranous wings, situated upon a 

 framework which may be likened to the ribs of an 

 umbrella, the Bat is admirably fashioned for the work 

 it performs with such unerring vigilance. It needs an 

 attentive ear to catch the weak note uttered by a Bat 

 when it flits rapidly past, but the tree-loving Noctule is 

 not so difficult to hear, as it emits a shrill sound when 

 pursuing its airy pilgrimage. As one watches it just 

 before dusk, flying on a warm Summer's evening in 

 search of cockchafers and other night-flying insects, a 

 series of remarkable evolutions are displayed of never- 

 ending interest to the zealous student of wild life. Chief 



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