PIPISTRELLE. 37 



pipes frequently attached to buildings for carrying ofl' 

 the rain." That such are the usual situations for these 

 respective species, Mr. Jenyns' statement would he a 

 sufficient authority, even were it not amply confirmed 

 by other observations : but that Bats are not so exclu- 

 sive in their places of hibernation as may seem to be 

 implied by the previous observation, has appeared to us 

 equally true, since we have received from one chalk 

 cavern at Chiselhurst, Vespertilio Nattereri, V. mystacimis, 

 Plecotus auriius, and Barbastellus, all taken at one time : 

 and it is clear that such retreats as are formed by art 

 cannot be considered in the light of original and natural 

 situations of retirement. 



More extended observations have, however, led us to 

 the belief that certain species do affect peculiar situa- 

 tions in which to rest during the day, and that others 

 are altogether indifferent so long as they meet with the 

 necessary shelter. These latter in all probability are 

 mostly solitary species, the gregarious ones appearing 

 to be much more particular in their choice of resting- 

 places. 



The Pipistrelle is by no means fastidious in this re- 

 spect. As mentioned in the first edition of this work, it 

 is sometimes foinid " under the roofs of houses, and in 

 crevices of buildings of every description,^' and it might 

 have been added, " either inside or out." An example 

 has been taken from a hole in the thatch of a low shed 

 in a brickyard, in which men were constantly at work, and 

 we have seen one taken from a pile of hurdles in a stack- 

 yard, which was being removed, but we cannot call to 

 mind an instance in which corn stacks were made use of 

 as a retreat. The inside of an old and disused wooden 

 pump has on another occasion been found a suitable 

 resting-place, the Bat having been seen to emerge from 



