4^6 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



Fiber to do when he wants his dinner is to swim along until he sees a 

 Unio at the bottom, dive, and quickly seize the animal, then swim leisurely 

 to his hole or the bank. By the time he has reached a good place for 

 eating his meal the Unio will be ready to open far enough for the insertion 

 of paw or nose, and the luscious bivalve can be devoured from the whole 

 shell. In my own experiments I was usually, though not always, successful. 

 The failures I think were always due to the fact that not quite enough of 

 the foot was caught by the closing shell ; this was caused by ray disturbing 

 the animal before taking hold of it. If the Musk Rat be not more supple 

 than I, he must occasionally miss his meal. — Prof. Austin C. Apgar , Journ. 

 Trenton Nat. Hist. Soc. J 887, p. 58. 



Bats preyed upon by Owls. — There is nothing new in the fact that 

 Bats are sometimes preyed upon by Owls, as also by the Hobby, Falco 

 suhbuteo (Zool. 1877, p. 47Q), for this has been ascertained by examination 

 of the pellets ejected by these birds, or by discovery of the remains of Bats 

 in their stomachs. But it does not often happen that one is enabled to see 

 how the Bat is captured by the Owl, and we may reasonably suppose that, 

 as a rule, he is snatched from the wall, or roof, of the church, barn, or old 

 building in which both species have been in the habit of roosting. The 

 rapid eccentric flight of a Bat would in nine cases out of ten probably prove 

 too much for the steady-going "mousing Owl." But that an Owl will 

 occasionally venture a flight at a Bat is vouched for by an observer at 

 Greenlaw, where, in the High Street, one evening in August last, an aerial 

 contest of this kind was witnessed. We are indebted to Mr. L. Richardson 

 for the following account of what took place: — "A number of persons 

 standing in the High Street about half-past eight o'clock on Thursday 

 evening (Aug. 18th) saw a Bat, followed by an Owl in hot pursuit, fly over 

 the houses on the south side of the street. The pursuit was continued 

 down the street for a short distance, the Bat being only about a foot in 

 advance of its pursuer, which, strangely, kept at this distance, without 

 apparently making any effort at a nearer approach, and at the same time 

 keeping a like average distance below the flying line of the Bat, which in 

 its wavering was continually changing its altitude. By this strategy the 

 Owl was ready to strike on the first favourable opportunity presented by 

 the Bat coming downwards. This opportunity was not long in coming. 

 The Bat crossed the street into the Green, where it made a sudden dart 

 downwards. The Owl at once got under, forcing the Bat up again, and 

 causing it to continue its forward course a little further. The Bat soon 

 made another descent, and when on a level with the Owl the latter instantly 

 struck it with one of its wings, either stunning or killing it, and when it 

 was falling it was secured by the Owl, and borne away in triumph to the 

 neighbouring church-tower." From the infrequency with which the skulls 

 or other remains of Bats have been found in Owls' " pellets," we may infer 



