﻿Manchester Memoirs, Vol. xlix. (1905), No. 1). 5 



Millais (3) cites Mr. T. A. Coward to the effect that no bats 

 were to be found in the Cefn Cave, near St. Asaph, in 

 August, 1903, nor in the Tremeirchion Cave in July of the 

 same year. The date of retirement of the Lesser Horseshoe 

 Bat to its winter quarters is unknown, and some which 

 were taken in a cave at Tal-y-bont, Carnarvonshire, on 

 September 24th, 1904 (6), may have occupied the place 

 only during the summer months. 



Be that as it may, Mr. Coward found bats in the Cefn 

 Cave on November 18th, 1903. Quantities of fresh 

 excrement on the floor beneath the hanging bats showed 

 that they had not relapsed into profound slumber im- 

 mediately on taking up their quarters for the winter, and 

 remains of a cave-haunting spider (Afeta menardi) in the 

 excreta seemed to indicate that they had fed in the cave 

 itself. In one of the galleries he encountered two of the 

 bats in flight, and three others were wakeful enough to 

 take flight before he touched them. The temperature of 

 the cave on this occasion was 46°F. It is possible that in 

 the early winter these bats are more active than during 

 the later period of retirement, but their winter sleep does 

 not appear to be ever very profound. On April 4th, 1896, I 

 went to Cefn with Mr. Coward and Mr. R. Newstead, of 

 the Chester Museum. We wished to photograph one of 

 the bats in situ, but either the light of our candles or the 

 noise made it very nervous. It swayed from side to side 

 during the operation, and finally unfolded its wings and 

 attempted to escape, although we had not touched it. On 

 March 4th, 1899, Mr. Coward and I visited the cave again. 

 When we approached with lighted candles, but before we 

 touched them, the bats evinced consciousness of our 

 presence. Some of them swayed slightly, and one jerked 

 itself round spasmodically several times, whilst two drew 

 up their bodies by flexing the legs, which in this species 



