38 A necdotal Natn ral History. 



to rise from the ground, but such is not the case ; 

 and should the creature be hard pressed, it does not 

 hesitate to do so. 



It is able to climb with tolerable facility, and 

 always does so with the tail uppermost, making its 

 way up by the aid of the hind feet, the long claws of 

 which are inserted into any convenient crevice in 

 order to gain a foothold. 



The food of all the British bats consists of the 

 various small insects which fly about dusk, and at 

 that time people the air in myriads. The appetite 

 of the animals is almost insatiable, as may be gathered 

 from the fact that a specimen of the short-eared bat, 

 lately kept in captivity by ourselves, consumed daily 

 from forty to fifty blue-bottle flies of the very largest 

 dimensions, rejecting only the wings, and in a few 

 cases the legs. Even upon this allowance, which 

 seldom occupied it for more than twenty minutes, it 

 did not thrive, but gradually wasted away, and finally 

 died. 



The bat was one which had been found in a hollow 

 tree, and suffering from an injury to one of the wings, 

 which entirely prevented it from flying. It was kept 

 under a glass shade, into which the blue-bottles were 

 introduced. It never took the slightest notice of the 

 insects until nearly dusk, allowing them to crawl 

 over all parts of its body without manifesting the 

 least signs of activity. As soon, however, as the day 

 began to close in, it was on the alert, and imme- 

 diately set to work devouring the flies which had been 

 procured for it. 



This it did in the following manner : 



Resting upon the floor of its cage, it remained 

 motionless until a fly settled within a few inches. 

 It then began, by an almost imperceptible move- 

 ment, to approach the insect, and when within 



