TYPICAL GROUP. 281 



have begun to fall. Dr. Coue.s states that " in most portions of the United States 

 the red bat is one of the most abundant, characteristic, and familiar species, being 

 rivalled in these resjiects by the little brown bat {Ves2)ertilio tfuhulatus) alone. It 

 would be safe to say that in any given instance of a bat entering our rooms of an 

 evening, the chances are a hundred to one of its being one of these two species. 

 The perfect noiselessuess and swiftness of its flight, the extraordinary agility with 

 which it evades obstacles — even the most dexterous strokes designed for its 

 capture — and the unwonted shape, associated in popular superstition with the 

 demons of the shades, con.spire to produce repulsive feelings that need little fancy 

 to render weird and uncanny." 



As is the case with many of its North American allies, this bat generally 

 hibernates in large colonies, which select for their retirement a cave or hollow tree. 

 The following account of a \isit to a cave, in tlie year 1816, probably refers to this 

 species, and gives a good idea of tlie vast nmnbers of individuals composing one of 

 these colonies. The describer. Professor J. Green, as quoted in 1842 by Dr. J. D. 

 Godman, writes that " I this day (November 1st) visited an extensive cavern about 

 twelve miles south of Albany, New York. I did not measure its extent into the 

 mountain, but it was at least .'JOO or 400 feet. There was nothing remarkable in 

 this cave except the vast multitudes of bats which had selected this unfreijuented 

 place to pass the winter. They did not appear to be much disturbed by the light 

 of the torches can-ied by our party, but upon being touched with sticks, they 

 instanth' recovei'ed animation and activity, and flew into the dark passages of the 

 cavern. As the cave was, for the most pai-t, not more than six or seven feet in height, 

 they could very easily be removed from the places to which they were suspended, 

 and some of the party who were behind me disturbed some hundreds of them at 

 once, when they swept by nie in swarms to moi-e remote, darker, and safer places 

 of retreat. In flying through the caves they made little or no noise ; sometimes 

 upon being disturbed in oni' place they flew but a few yards antl then instantly 

 settled in another. These bats, in hibernating, suspend themselves by the hinder 

 claws from the roof or upper part of the ca\e : in no instance did I observe one 

 along the sides. They were not promiscuouslj' scattered, but were collected into 

 gi-oups or clusters of some hundreds, all in close contact. On holding a candle 

 within a few inches of one of these groups, they were not in the least troubled 

 by it ; their eyes continued closed, and I could perceive no signs of respiration." 



As an instance of the weight of the young which female bats have sometimes 

 to carry with them, we may r'efer to an account by Mr. W. H. Hudson, who states 

 that in La Plata he once captured a female bat, which, although mentioned by an- 

 other name, appears to have belonged to a variety of this species. This bat had 

 attached to her breast two young, which were so lai-ge that it seemed incredible 

 how she could fly when thus burdened, much less with sufficient speed to catch her 

 insect food. Mr. Hudson states that these young ones were fastened on each side 

 of the body of the parent; and when forcibly separated from their hold were 

 incapable of flight, and fluttered feebly to the ground. The weight of the young 

 in this -instance was not, indeed, so relatively great as in the case of the opossum, 

 where seven or eight young may sometimes be seen clinging to the tail and Ijack of 

 the-female : but then it nnist be remembered that the opossum has only to climb. 



