BRITISH MAMMALS 



entered Cuvier s bedroom, hovered over the sleeping 

 form, and, in a stentorian voice, bellowed forth : "Cuvier, 

 I've come to eat you ! " But the student had reckoned 

 without his host, for Cuvier woke with a start, carefully 

 surv^eyed the monster that was standing over him, and 

 said : " Come to eat me, have you ? Horns on your 

 head, an Ass's skin round your loins, hoofs on your feet, 

 flat teeth, graminivorous, you can't ! " The student who 

 desires to acquire further information would do well to 

 prosecute the spirit of enquiry into this vastly interesting 

 law, as by means of it the make-up of an animal can 

 be better understood, and some idea gained of its mode 

 of life. Tempted to write thus because of the long 

 ears and wide wing-stretch of the Long-Eared Bat, 

 which, it may be mentioned, is also known as the Rabbit- 

 Eared Bat, owing to its hearing organs suggesting a 

 likeness to those of the well-known rodent, we may 

 conclude our remarks upon this species by relating that 

 it haunts church-towers, the roofs of buildings and similar 

 places, where, in daytime, numbers may be found 

 suspended in living chains or clusters. A visit paid to 

 a tomb cut in a rock situate in the Libyan desert, re- 

 warded an explorer of those regions with a remarkable 

 sight of countless Long-Eared Bats, which, he has told 

 us, were so numerous that they covered his body during 

 his descent into the crypt, " while hundreds fluttered 

 about like bees around a hive." 



Barbastelle Bat. — This Bat is a solitary species, and 



may also be regarded as one of the most uncommon 

 28 



