1907. J WINTER HABITS OF CAVE-HAUNTING BATS. 315 



did not defecate in the box ; one taken near the entrance of the 

 cave did so at once. 



On the 29th I went into the cave in the afternoon, but on the 

 31st, when I found that the two bats whose positions I had noted 

 had moved, I entered about 6 p.m. A few yards from the 

 entrance, in a fissure in the roof which may lead to chambers and 

 passages as yet unknown, a thick chister of wide-awake Greater 

 Horseshoes was suspended from a spur of rock. On the floor of 

 the cave beneath this fissure I had, on the 29th, noted a large 

 pile of clung, but certainly, during the daytime, no bats were 

 visible in the fissure. The bats, which numbered at least thirty 

 and possibly as many as fifty, were clinging together like a swarm 

 of bees ; their heads, ears, and facial ornaments were in constant 

 nervous movement and the wings hung loosely by their sides ; 

 they had apparently emerged from some crack or hole in the 

 fissure. When I turned the light of a powerful lamp upon the 

 bunch, individuals at once detached themselves, dropped on 

 outstretched wings, and flew fui'ther into the cave. On this 

 occasion, so far as I could tell, all flew into the depths of the cave 

 and not towards its mouth. I struck two down with my stick as 

 they flew and could have killed many more ; within a few minutes 

 the fissure was empty, all having apparently entered the cave. 

 As I proceeded up the tunnel I found many bats clinging 

 to the walls and roof, their wings hanging loosely, their heads, 

 ears, and nose-ornaments twitching, as with raised heads and 

 necks and hollowed backs they turned and twisted in all 

 directions without moving the position of their feet. Whether 

 these wide-awake bats were or were not able to see me I am 

 not prepared to say, bvit they were keenly alive to my 

 presence and moved, flying freely, when I approached them. 

 Other bats passed me, flying up and down the tunnel, but it is 

 probable that there is either a second exit or further chambers, 

 for I certainly did not come across all the bats which had left the 

 cluster near the entrance. In the terminal chamber, where on 

 the 29th I had seen about forty bats, only eight remained, and 

 these again were awake ; while I was watching them two took wing. 



On January 1st, 1907, I went in in the daytime, and not only 

 found that the six bats left on the evening before in the terminal 

 chamber had disappeared but could not see a single bat hanging 

 in the cave. On January 3rd I entered about 6.15 p.m. ; no bats 

 wei-e visible in the fissure near the entrance where I had seen the 

 cluster on December 31st, nor were there any hanging and only one 

 was on the wing in the tunnel. The chamber at the foot of the 

 chimney was again empty, but by climbing over the chock stone 

 I reached the upper and larger chamber which I had not previously 

 visited. Here I found two small colonies or collections of bats — 

 numbering twelve and eight individuals respectively — and a 

 single bat in the low passsge which leads out of this chamber. 

 These bats were not in profound slumber; some two or three 

 individuals were hanging with the wings by their sides and were 



