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



held the bat in my hand until it had snatched the beetle and 

 then released it ; but at times the bat, when suspended from 

 some foothold, would take a beetle which was offered to it. The 

 released bat, holding the beetle securely, even if only by one leg, 

 invariably flew to some favourite foothold — usually the picture-rail 

 in one of three different spots, one end of the window-sill, or a 

 curtain-ring — and there hung until the beetle was devoured. 

 When the beetle was dropped in flight, only two or three times 

 in over 120 experiments, the bat made no attempt to recover its 

 prey. I never heard the sound of champing jaws as the bats were 

 flying, but when they were at rest the noise of crushing the haixl 

 armour of the beetles was plainly aiidible. 



The interfemoral membrane was never used as a pouch, as it is 

 in the Vesj^ertilionicke (2), but the beetle was invariably pushed 

 against the interbrachial membrane, as I observed was the case in 

 the Lesser Horseshoe (1). At times it was thrust against the 

 belly, sometimes into one and sometimes into the other wing, and 

 as a rule one leg was detached from its hold in order to give more 

 freedom to the half-outstretched wing on the same side. The 

 contortions of the bat were most noticeable when it was hanging 

 . clear and not against the wall ; on many occasions one or othei- of 

 my captives went through the whole opei-ation when suspended 

 from my finger. The object of this use of the membrane is un- 

 doubtedly to prevent the escape of the struggling beetle as the 

 bat relaxes its grip in order to adjust the position of the captive 

 in its mouth ; when the beetle was seized by the head, especially 

 if it was a male armed with sharp thoracic spines, it was turned 

 until the bat had a grip upon the abdomen. As the head is 

 thrust into the interbrachial membrane, the wing and leg, on the 

 same side, are moved shai'ply forward, thus, by the resistance of 

 the membrane, enabling the bat to secure a firmer gi'asp of the 

 beetle, almost as if the wing was used actually to push the prey 

 further into the mouth. The object of pouching in the Vesper- 

 tilionidce is to prevent the escape of a captive, when the bat is 

 flying, until a firm grip is secured (2), but in the Horseshoes the 

 use of the interbrachial membi'ane appears to be difierent ; in the 

 Vespertilionicke the head is rapidly withdrawn from the pouch and 

 the prey devoured openly ; in the Ehinolophichyi the wing is made 

 use of repeatedly, so long, in fact, as any large portion of the prey 

 projects beyond the jaws of the bat. 



The head, prothorax, first pair of legs, and elj'tra of a beetle are 

 usually dropped by the bat, but occasionally the head or one 

 elytron are devoured ; those portions rejected hj my captives were 

 smailar to many of the fragments foinid in the caves. When a 

 bat had eaten two or three beetles its head drooped and it lapsed 

 into partial slumber, rousing itself spasmc dically at any sudden 

 noise. After a few minutes, however, it would be lively again, 

 swinging round on its legs and moving its head and ears at the 

 slightest sound . 



Mr. J. G. Millais states (3) that this species " doesLnot devour 



