THE NOCTULE 87 



the body, pointed forwards; the bent tail thus causes 

 the interfemoral membrane to bag, for this membrane 

 stretches from foot to foot, with the tail in the centre. 

 When any large and powerful insect was seized the bat 

 at once thrust its head under its body, pushing the 

 insect into the bag or pouch between its legs and securing 

 a firmer grip. Upon first seizing the insect the bat raised 

 itself, pressing the forelimbs, the wings, to the ground, 

 and bringing the legs forward so as to increase the capacity 

 of the pouch. If the insect was not very strong the head 

 was withdrawn at once and the unfortunate devoured, 

 but a big insect gave trouble, and it might be a second or 

 more before a firm enough grip was secured. The whole 

 movement was quick, and at first we did not realise that 

 it was a normal habit, but there is little doubt that it 

 is what the bat does when on the wing. A moth seized 

 by the wing alone would give trouble in the air, and might 

 easily escape, but if at once thrust into this living net its 

 struggles could be mastered, and the bat could shift its 

 jaws to the body of its prey. Though it is seldom 

 possible to watch this swift action in the flying bat, there 

 are times when we see it dip its head in the air. 



When feeding the motion of the bat's jaws is exceedingly 

 rapid, and the crunching of the hard beetle elytra may be 

 heard as the noctule passes overhead. The process of 

 devouring a beetle is more interesting than pleasant to 

 watch, for though the strong jaws move quickly the insect 

 passes but slowly down the throat; its still undevoured 

 limbs twitch long after much of the body is no more. 

 Bingley noticed this habit of pouching food in a small bat, 

 to which he had given a flesh-fly: "The animal, raising 

 itself higher than usual on its fore-legs, bent its head with 

 great dexterity under its belly, and forced the insect into 

 its mouth, by thrusting it, from side to side, against that 

 part of the membrane which extended betwixt the two 



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