I 



At present I know only two species of bats, the 

 common Vespertilio muriniis and the Vespertilio au- 

 ritus. 



I was much entertained last summer with a tame* 

 bat, which would take flies out of a person's hand. 

 If you gave it anything to eat, it brought its wings 

 round before the mouth, hovering and hiding its 

 head in the manner of birds of prey when they feed. 

 The adroitness it showed in shearing off the wings of 

 flies, which were always rejected, was worthy of ob- 

 servation, and pleased me much. Insects seemed to 

 be most acceptable, though it did not refuse raw 

 flesh when offered : so that the notion that bats go 

 down chimneys and gnaw men's bacon seems no im- 

 probable story. While I amused myself with this 

 wonderful quadruped, I saw it several times confute 

 the vulgar opinion, that bats when down on a flat sur- 

 face cannot get on the wing again, by rising with 

 great ease from the floor. It ran, I observed, with 

 more despatch than I was aware of ; but in a most 

 ridiculous and grotesque manner. 



Bats drink on the wing, like swallows, by sipping 

 the surface, as they play over pools and streams. 

 They love to frequent waters, not only for the sake 

 of drinking, but on account of the insects which are 

 found over them in the greatest plenty. As I was 

 going, some years ago, pretty late, in a boat from 

 Richmond to Sunbury, on a warm summer's evening, 

 I think I saw myriads of bats between the two 



. 4S 



