78 Whitaker: Notes on the Breeding Habits of Bats. 
short time, I only managed to nurse one of them round into 
proper health again. 
On June 16th I netted a female Pipistrelle as it was flying 
at dusk by Worsbrough Reservoir, and this I placed in the same 
cage as the female still living, of whose capture I have just 
given an account. 
These two bats were both fed exclusively on mealworms, 
which they would pick up for themselves from the floor of their 
cage after the first week of captivity. The New Forest femele 
was, for the first two months, in much better health than her 
companion, and would consume nearly twice the quantity of 
food, managing to dispose on the average of about forty meal- 
worms per day, a greater quantity than I have known any other 
individual of this species to consume. 
Sometime between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. on July 18th, forty-one 
days after its capture, the New Forest Pipistrelle gave birth to 
a young male. On looking into her cage at the latter hour, I 
saw her crawling about on the bottom with the youngster under 
her right wing. 
The following day, sometime in the afternoon, the other 
female gave birth to a young one, also a male. 
Both the young Pipistrelles at birth were of a dull flesh 
colour, blind, and naked save for a few slight hairs on the 
muzzle. The wing membranes and ears were decidedly darker 
than the rest of the skin in colour. They were very small at 
first, so small, that when tucked under the maternal wing their 
presence would not be detected unless one were either looking 
for them or happened to notice an occasional suspicious undul- 
ation of the membrane of the mother’s wing near her shoulder, 
as the little one squirmed about underneath. 
The difference in the rate of growth between these two young 
bats was really remarkable, and undoubtedly due to the fact 
that at birth, and for some time afterwards, the New Forest 
parent was in much better health than the Worsbrough one. 
The baby first born began to grow darker in colour day by day, 
especially the wing's, ears, interfemoral membrane, muzzle, etc. 
I first saw its eyes open on the eighth day after birth, but it did 
not seem to use them much, for it would only open them when 
handled, and often crawled about with them closed as long as it 
lived. 
The fur began to show at the end of the first week, and as it 
became more noticable, imparted a silky, golden apperance to 
the back, and a more silvery one to the chin and breast, and 
Naturalist, 
