EARLY DAYS AND EARLY WAYS tj 



Now in the case of the noctule bat it seems that while 

 the young one is constantly carried during the first few 

 days of its life, even by the tenth day it is sometimes left 

 at home clinging to the walls of the tree trunk, or other 

 retreat chosen by the parent. At any rate a case is on 

 record where a colony of females were disturbed and left 

 their den hurriedly ; on this being examined, a youngster 

 of about ten days old was found clinging to its walls. Yet 

 in another case where a similar colony was disturbed it 

 was noticed that when most of the mothers flew away 

 they bore half-grown young with them clinging to their 

 sides, and causing, appareritly, no inconvenience whatever. 

 During these journeys in mid-air the young maintain 

 their hold by clinging to the nipple, and grasping hold 

 of the mother's fur with their hind-feet. 



From these fact's, then, and others which could be 

 quoted, it seems that too much has been made of the 

 carrying power of bats ; that towards the later stages of 

 development — ^and young bats seem to be suckled for about 

 two months — the young, especially when two or more are 

 concerned, are left at home while the mother forages for 

 food, or on occasions when a hurried exit becomes neces- 

 sary to escape danger. In the case of the Lesser Horseshoe 

 Bat, it has been shown that the mothers will indeed, if 

 frightened, thus temporarily abandon their offspring. The 

 male parent, it is to be noted, bears no part in nursing. 



Before we leave this fascinating theme of young bats 

 space must be found wherein to mention certain curious 

 facts regarding our Greater Horse-shoe Bat {Rhinolophus 

 ferrum-equinum). In this species, singularly enough, the 

 females have two pairs of nipples : one holding the 

 normal place on the chest, the other in the groin. Now 

 the first pair are milk-yielding, but the second are known 



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