14 INTRODUCTION. 
nor the comfortable seat which Ariel appears to have 
found “on the bat’s back”’ (Tempest, Act v. Sc. 1). 
The following striking passage must also be familiar to 
readers of Shakespeare :— 
“ Ere the bat hath flown 
His cloister’d flight ; ere, to black Hecate’s summons, 
The shard-borne beetle, with his drowsy hums, 
Hath rung night’s yawning peal, 
There shall be done a deed of dreadful note.” 
Macbeth, Act iii. Sc. 2. 
In a printed broadside of the time of Queen Anne, 
in the collection of the Society of Antiquaries of London, 
is the following curious fable relating to the Bat :— 
“615. THE BIRDS AND BEastTs. A Fable. 
“Once the Birds and Beasts strove for the prerogative : 
the neuter Batt, seeing the Beasts prevail, goes to them 
and shows them her large forehead, long ears, and teeth : 
afterwards, when the Birds prevail’d, the Batt flies with 
the Birds, and sings chit, chit, chat, and shows them her 
wings. 
“Hence Beakless Bird, hence Winged Beast, they cry’d ; 
Hence plumeless wings ; thus scorn her either side. 
“LONDON. PRINTED FOR Epw. Lewis, 
FLOWER-DE-LUCE CourRT, FLEET STREET. 1710." 
