314 MR. T. A. COWARD ON THE [Apr. 9, 



Great Oons Cave is longer tlian the Long Hole ; it consists of 

 a rough, slightly descending tunnel and a steep passage rvmning 

 downwards to a considerable depth from the end of the main tunnel. 

 At the bottom of this terminal passage, at a great distance below the 

 entrance of the cave, I found one Greater Horseshoe hanging ; 

 a few others and Lesser Horseshoes, Rhinolophus hipposiderus 

 (Bechstein), were in other parts of the cave, and a Whiskered 

 Bat, Myotis mystacinus (Leisler), was close to the entrance. The 

 Echo Cave is a great cleft in the cliff, entered by a small hole and 

 short passage ; the cleft then extends upwards and downwards, the 

 height being over a hundred feet and the width little more than 

 eight feet. Thirty feet or more above the floor of the cave 

 colonies of Greater Horseshoes were hanging from the wall on 

 one side, and a few Lesser Horseshoes were suspended, singly, 

 from the opposite wall. Goatchurch Cavern, on the northern 

 slope of the Mendips, has its entrance high on the hill-side in the 

 treeless valley of Burrington Combe. This cavern consists of long 

 and intricate passages, running far into the hill and descending 

 steeply ; here again at a great depth T found both species of 

 Horseshoe scattered about the passages. In other smaller and 

 shallower caves, some with narrow entrances and others with wide 

 mouths, I found Greater and Lesser Horseshoes ; one of the 

 former hung in full daylight ten yards from the entrance, and a 

 Lesser Horseshoe from the upper part of a bottle-shaped hollow 

 in the roof only four yards from the entrance. 



In no case in which I was able to make repeated observations 

 were the bats actually hibernating. All were susceptible to the 

 disturbance caused by my entrance, drawing themselves up by 

 bending their legs and often swaying slightly, although not 

 touched ; bats changed their positions in the intervals between my 

 visits, while others, as I shall show later, flew in the caves 

 without any artificial stimulus and indeed went out into the open 

 air of their own accord. Lesser Horseshoes and Whiskered Bats 

 also moved from positions in which I had observed them, and I 

 saw a Long-eared Bat, Plecotus auritus Geofir., on the wing in 

 the evening in one cave. 



On December 29th I carefully noted the position of two Greater 

 Horseshoes in the main tunnel of the Long Hole, one of which 

 was not more than ten yards from the entrance, but was careful 

 not to touch them nor to bring my light near to them. Two days 

 later both had moved. On the same date (Dec. 29th) I found a 

 colony of about forty hanging close together — only a few were 

 actually touching any of the others — in the terminal chamber. 

 Five of these I took without touching any of the others. When 

 pushed from their footholds they fluttered to the ground and lay 

 there, cold and lethargic, but squeaking feebly and extending their 

 legs backwards, apparently in search of some foothold. The 

 remainder drew themselves up by bending their legs but did not 

 unfold their wings. Very little dung lay beneath this colony, and 

 the bats which I took, though they were soon awake and lively, 



