14 HAIR OF BAT AND MOUSE. 



by myself from the animals, and drawn by myself 

 by means of the Camera Lucida, so that they are to 

 be depended on. 



To return to my caged bat. 



Although it did not do much in the eating way, it 

 frequently came to the water vessel and drank there- 

 from ; but it was so timid when drinking, that I 

 could not see whether it lapped or drank. When 

 disturbed, it used to scuttle away over the floor, in a 

 most absurd manner, but with some speed. Some- 

 times it tried to drink by crawling to a spot just over 

 the vessel, and lowering itself until its nose was 

 within reach of the water ; but the distance was too 

 great for the attempt to be successful. In its wild 

 state, the bat hunts insects, as they hover over the 

 surface of water, and drinks as it flies, by dipping its 

 head in the water while on the wing. 



I rather think that my bat must have received 

 some injury from the brooms and caps that were 

 aimed at it when it entered the shop, for it only 

 lived a fortnight or so, and one morning I found it 

 hanging by its hind claws from the roof of the cage, 

 quite dead. 



I believe that bats generally die while thus sus- 

 pended, for it is a very common thing to find plenty 

 of suspended bats, dry and mummified, when en- 

 trance is made into an unfrequented cave, or a hollow 

 tree cut down, or, indeed, when any bat-haunted spot 

 is examined. 



