Bats. 39 



an inch or so of it, with a sudden spring, clutched 

 the insect between the wings, and holding them 

 tightly together, bent down its head, and swallowed 

 its captive. If a fly happened to take flight before the 

 bat was near enough to make its spring, it merely 

 remained motionless until another presented itself. 



It was fiercely voracious when it once began to 

 feed, and scarcely had one fly been swallowed than 

 the bat was eagerly looking out for another. Its atti- 

 tude when thus engaged strongly reminded us of that 

 of the toad or the green crab when hunting after prey. 



Though as a rule a nocturnal creature, owing to 

 the habits of its prey, the bat may occasionally be 

 seen flying in broad daylight, and sometimes, in the 

 early spring, even hawking for the insects which are 

 enjoying the warmth of the sun. In these cases, it is 

 probable that the bat, having for the first time left the 

 retreat where it had passed the winter in a torpid condi- 

 tion, has felt the want of food, and knowing instinct- 

 ively that no insects would be on the wing at sunset 

 so early in the year, has so far altered its usual habits 

 as to prosecute its search by day instead of by night. 



Most bats, however, resort to dark and retired 

 hiding-places during the day, and in some parts of 

 the world there are large caves which are celebrated 

 as haunts of the bats. When travellers visit these 

 caves, the guide will fire a gun into the cave for the 

 purpose of startling the bats, which come rushing out 

 in such numbers that unwary visitors have been fairly 

 knocked down by them. 



In Great Britain alone, there are nineteen cata- 

 logued species of bats, many of which, however, are 

 rare, and very seldom seen. One of the commonest 

 is the Long-eared Bat (Plecotus communis), which 

 abounds throughout the British Islands. It derives 

 its popular title from the great length of its ears, 



