352 Whilakcr: The Fliirht of Bats. 



passiiii^ within u foot or two of my face, and repeatedly flyini^T 

 up to the hole and away again without actually entering. By 

 10-50, however, no bats were to be seen flying about, and about 

 11-30, ascending to the hole, I put in my hand and could feel 

 them inside. They seemed to drop off to sleep at once, as even 

 my touching them did not call forth a squeak, and they were 

 perfectly quiet through the night. Dawn commenced about 

 2-30, and by 3 o'clock it was getting so light that 1 began to 

 think there was going to be no morning flight of the Noctules, 

 which were still perfectly quiet. In this I was mistaken. At 

 3-15 I was surprised to see a Noctule drop quietly from the 

 hole, followed at intervals by seven others. The thing that 

 struck me as most peculiar about this morning exodus of the 

 bats was that it took place in absolute silence, very unlike the 

 noisy, squeaky exit in the evening. By 3-45 it was almost 

 broad daylight, and a cold morning for July, with a ground 

 haze. The swallows and swifts were flying about, and the sun 

 just rising before the Noctules came home again to roost. I 

 could not see them feeding anywhere previous to their return 

 to the home tree, but they would suddenly appear with a rush 

 of wings quite magnificent, swing round the tree ten or fifteen 

 times in grand style, then pitch head first on the entrance or 

 side of the hole, and run quickly in, not to be seen or heard 

 again for the time. At 4 o'clock I ascended to the hole and 

 removed the occupants, two of which escaped me ; the six I 

 secured were all males. It should be remarked that of the 

 fifteen bats which left their hole at dusk the previous evening, 

 only eight returned after the vespertal flight, seven having for 

 some reason gone elsewhere, instead of coming back to the 

 same hole. This is strange, as the colony had only taken up its 

 quarters in that particular hole two days previously. 



This crepuscular flight probably indicates that the Noctule 

 feeds mainly by sight, though suggesting also that the beetles 

 and other insects upon which it feeds also do not fly except in 

 the morning and evening twilight. 



To sum up, the Noctule may be recognised when flying by 

 its large size, narrow pointed wings, early appearance in the 

 evening, high altitude, powerful dashing flight, sudden lerial 

 dives, and loud piercing call, regularly and deliberately repeated. 



The only Yorkshire bat which can jjossibly be confounded 

 with the Noctule when flying is Leisler's Bat {Ptcrysrisivr 

 Icislcri). This species is rare however in our county, having 

 only been recorded from the vicinity of Leeds, Mexbrough, and 



NatiiralUi, 



