THE LONG-EARED BAT. 123 



" All this time the poor thing continued hooked on to the basket, and during the first 

 day she would take no food, would not be tempted by meat or milk, by a fly or a spider. 

 The next morning I saw her cowering in the cotton, and when I attempted to touch her 

 she endeavored to bite my finger, and made the least possible noise you can imagine. 

 I then offered her a fly, and in a moment it was swallowed ; a bit of meat shared the 

 same fate, and then she folded her wings round her, intimating, as I imagined, that she 

 had had enough. All day she never moved, and at dusk, when I again tempted her 

 with food, she took it. This continued for some days ; she became tamer, and seemed 

 to anticipate 'feeding-time.' 



" At last, to my astonishment, I saw a baby-bat covered with light brownish fur, but 

 still looking as young mice look, under the folds of her wing (I do not know what else 

 to call it). Doubtless Nature had taught her that for the sake of this little one she must 

 take food. I believe it sucked, for, afterwards, when she again suspended herself against 

 the side of the basket, the young bat was not in the cotton, and I fancied that it hung 

 from the mother while imbibing nutriment. 



" The old bat became furious if I attempted to touch the young one ; her soft hair 

 stood up, and she would tremble all over, and utter little, short, sharp sounds. I wanted 

 very much to see if the baby like Chloe's puppies was blind, but she would not allow 

 an investigation. Certainly before a fortnight had passed, I saw its eyes, like little 

 bright beads in the candle-light. 



" My bat and her baby excited great curiosity, and she was too frequently disturbed ; 

 the young one lived for about a month, when, to my great grief, I found it dead in the 

 cotton, the parent hanging, as usual, from the side of the basket. I am sorry to add, 

 that the wee bat had what might have been a bruise, but which looked very much like a 

 bite, at the back of the neck. 



" The old bat became as tame as a mouse, would hang itself to any convenient portion 

 of my dress, and devour whatever I gave it of animal food, and lick milk off my finger. 

 It knew me well, would fly round my room in the evening, and go out at the window 

 hawking for insects, and return in a couple of hours and hang to the window-sill, or to 

 the sash, until admitted. At night, it would sometimes fasten in my hair, but never went 

 near my mother or the servants. It did not seem to experience any inconvenience from 

 the loss of its foot, and continued a great favorite for more than two years. I suppose 

 the heat of my room prevented its becoming torpid in winter, though certainly it never 

 prowled about as it used to do in spring and summer ; I do not think it ate in winter, 

 but of this I cannot be certain. It disappeared altogether at last, falling a prey, I believe, 

 to some white owls, who held time-honored possession of an old belfry. I was very 

 sorry for my bat, and should be glad to cultivate the intellect and affections of another, 

 ; f I had the opportunity," 



In the valuable work on " British Quadrupeds," by Mr. Bell, there is an account 

 of a nursling bat, which presents many points of similarity with the foregoing de- 

 scription. 



England possesses many species of these curious flying mammalia, nineteen of which 

 are mentioned in " Bell's British Quadrupeds." Of these, the last which will be described 

 in this work is nearly the largest of the British Cheiroptera, being only exceeded by the 

 Large-eared Bat (Myotis murinus). 



In length of head and body it is almost three inches, and the spread of its wings, from 

 thirteen to fourteen inches. The tail is about an inch and three-quarters long, and is 

 capable of considerable movement. The color of the fur is a reddish brown, nearly 

 uniform in tint over the whole body, and its texture is very soft. The ears are rather 

 large, and the tragus is short, narrow at its root, and then expanding into a rounded 

 head. 



On account of the great height at which this bat loves to fly, it has been named 

 " altivolans," or " high-flying," and seems to be among bats what the swift is among the 

 swallow tribe. 



It is curious, by the way, to mark the analogy that exists between the swallows and 

 bats. Each of these groups loves the air, and is mostly seen on the wing. Their food 

 consists of the flying insects, which they chase by their exquisite command of wing ; and 



