CHIROPTERA 23 



hunt amongst branches of trees or it may be in ivy or rocks. 

 The suggestion is supported by Mr Coward's observations on 

 captives of the larger species, which showed a remarkable 

 aptitude for seeking their prey upon the ground, a habit not 

 known in any other British bat, and recalling those of the 

 African Lavias, which also possess a nose-leaf.^ 



All bats love shelter, and are much impeded, or entirely kept 

 at home, by foul weather, even in summer, at which season 

 it is probable that exceptional cold or wet causes the death 

 of many from starvation.'^ The delicate Lesser Horseshoe is 

 probably the most susceptible to wind. The larger kinds, and 

 even the lesser when they have to deal with small insects, 

 devour them on the wing, usually rejecting the wings, elytra, or 

 other indigestible portions, which have been noticed falling 

 thickly from a party of feeding Noctules. As a rule, bats of 

 small size, such as the Pipistrelle, retire from flight for a few 

 moments after the capture of a large insect — a course scorned by 

 such strong flyers as the Noctule or Leisler's Bat. To help 

 them in retaining their grip, it appears almost certain that all the 

 Vespertilionidce make more or less frequent use of the interfemoral 

 membrane as a kind of bag or pouch (Plate VIII., p. 104). 

 Into this the head is dipped and the struggling captive pressed 

 against the membrane until it is overcome. The larger the inter- 

 femoral membrane, the easier is its use as a pouch ; and, as if 

 ready at a moment's notice, its position in flight is generally 

 with the tip somewhat below the horizontal. The basal portion 

 is, however, kept taut by the widely separated feet with their 

 strong spurs or calcaria. 



In Natterer's Bat the interfemoral is weakly developed, is 

 carried horizontally in flight, and is possibly used infrequently 

 as a pouch, but in the Horseshoes alone of British bats this 

 membrane is too small for such a function, and in fact in their 

 case the tip of the tail is normally carried bent over the back 

 (Plates XIX. and XX., pp. 228 and 250). They have, however, 

 an exceptionally developed antebrachial membrane, and when 

 eating their prey they press it against one of the wings, seldom 

 withdrawing their head until the meal is finished. The heaps of 

 refuse which may be found accumulated under their resting 



1 Dobson's Catalogue of Chiroptera, i(xi. ^ Whitaker, Naturalist, 1907, 418. 



