THE LONG-EARED BAT 



localities in England and the Lowlands of Scotland. It is rarer in the 

 Highlands of that country, though it has been found in many places as far 

 north as Sutherland and Inverness-shire. 



Mr. Millais says it is common about Perth and Dunkeld, and he once 

 obtained one on North Uist, Outer Hebrides. 



I have seen one which was picked up in my presence on the railway 

 line at Pitlochry. 



It has also been recorded in the Isle of Man, and is abundant in 

 Ireland. 



The Long-eared Bat is partial to wooded districts, where it seeks its 

 food of moths and other insects among the foliage and blossoms of trees, 

 often picking them off the leaves. 



Dr. N. H. Alcock and Mr. C. Moffat, writing in the Irish Naturalist 

 (December 1901), thus describe its habits, " To observe this Bat on the wing, 

 it is a good plan to wait at dusk under some tree whose foliage is not too 

 dense to be seen through — an ash is probably the best that can be selected — 

 and watch for its appearance among the branches overhead. From about 

 thirty to thirty-five minutes after sunset, its figure may, almost any summer 

 evening, be thus detected against the sky, gliding and hovering in a stealthy 

 manner among the outer sprays of the tree. It threads its way with a 

 beautiful facility among the twigs and leaves, often seeming rather to swim 

 than to fly, so slight is the visible movement of the wings. Poising at times 

 like a humming bird, it appears to be picking something from the leaves ; 

 at other times it suddenly plunges into the middle of a spray, and remains 

 for several seconds clinging to the twigs, no doubt securing or eating some 

 insect. It is not uncommon to see one ash tree occupied at the same time 

 by five or six of these Bats — though each comes and departs by itself — all 

 gliding in the same noiseless and lemurine fashion among the leaves, and all 

 to the casual bystander practically invisible. The long ears are often thrown 



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