382 Whitaker : The F/i<r/if of Bats. 



middle of large woods. A disused tnimway tunnel in the 

 Stainbroui^ii Woods finds an asylum for many bats of this species 

 during- both summer and winter (see Plate XXVII., figs, i and 2). 

 The thatch of a woodman's shelter, in another large wood I 

 visit, harbours others, and the rocky holes of some old quarries 

 surrounded by woodland form another retreat where I have 

 seen these bats. I have never taken this species away from 

 the immediate vicinity of trees. The best time to view this bat 

 on the wing is the early part of April, before the foliage has 

 become so thick as to make it difficult to see. On a mild, still 

 evening in April one must go into the woods, and there, as 

 soon as it is dusk, these bats will easily be seen threading in 

 and out among the twigs and branches of some tree, frequently 

 hovering whilst they pick off some insect which is settled on a 

 twig, and sometimes alighting on a twig themselves for a short 

 time. A sallow tree in flower, either in the middle or on the 

 outskirts of a wood, on a suitable night, is a great attraction, 

 for the Long-eared Bats delight to feed on the Tceniocampas and 

 other moths which frequent the blossoms. Round a small 

 sallow tree in a clearing in New Park Spring Wood near 

 Cudworth, on the evening of April 13th, 1904, I saw four Long- 

 eared Bats flying at once. The bush was scarcely the height of 

 m}' head, and I was examining it with a lantern, but even this 

 did not deter the Long-eared Bats from hovering cheekily, and 

 taking the moths off the catkins within a foot or two of my 

 lantern. It is the only bat I have observed to take insects 

 which were settled, and I believe that a great part of its food is 

 so obtained, an idea which reeeives strong confirmation from 

 the fact that this species so readily learns to pick up its own 

 food in captivity, whilst other species (which are accustomed to 

 take their food on the wing) must be fed by hand, for even when 

 half starving and confined in a small cage with plenty of food 

 all around them they will stare anxiously up, waiting for it to 

 drop from the clouds. 



In summer, the Long-eared Bat may sometimes be seen 

 crossing quickly from one tree to another, but more often only 

 brief glimpses of it can be obtained as it winds and twists in 

 and out among the branches of some large tree, with a delicate 

 fluttering flight which carries it untouched through the most 

 intricate and seemingly impossible arboreal passages. The 

 long ears are directed forwards during flight, and very 

 occasionally a distinct view of them may be had for a second or 

 two, if a silhouette of the bat be caught against the sky. 



Naturalist. 



