THE NOCTULE, OR GREAT BAT 



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The Great Bat has frequently been kept alive since Daniell's 

 time. Mr Oldham's description of its habits while in con- 

 finement is the most detailed, and may be quoted at length : ^ — 

 Like other bats in captivity, it "shows little inclination 

 for flight, especially in an artificially lighted room, and when 

 it does take wing, frequently collides with the walls and 

 furniture. A confined space is indeed unsuited to its bold 

 and dashing flight, although in a darkened room it will remain 

 on the wing for some time and avoid accidents. In walking— 

 a captive Bat's usual mode of progression— the body is carried 

 clear of the ground, and supported on the feet and wrists only. 

 The tail is curved downwards and forwards, and the inter- 

 femoral membrane pressed against the belly. The fore limb is 

 spread considerably, but the phalanges with their connecting 

 wing-membranes are tightly closed and folded back along the 

 lower arm. In ascending a curtain or picture-frame, the claws 

 on the thumbs are brought into use, and the tail, instead of 

 being curved beneath the body, is then extended backwards, 

 with the tip pressed closely against the surface of the object up 

 which the Bat is climbing. For the time being, it is analogous 

 to the stiffened rectrices of a Woodpecker or Tree-Creeper. 



" Any instinctive dread which Bats may have of man dis- 

 appears quickly in captivity, but the Noctule is exceptionally 

 fearless. Within a few minutes of their capture, I took two of 

 the Bats singly from among their struggling fellows in the bag, 

 and, holding them in one hand, offered mealworms with the 

 other. So cramped were they that they could not move their 

 limbs, but they seized and devoured the insects with the utmost 

 sang-froid. On the same evening others were climbing about my 

 arms and neck without any signs of fear ; and the old female 

 which I had for several weeks used habitually to clamber up my 

 arm as it rested on the table, and snuggle against my neck." 



The captives drank freely. "Their food consisted of 

 mealworms . . . , raw lean beef, and such moths, beetles and 

 other insects as I was able to procure. All food was thoroughly 

 masticated by an extremely rapid movement of the jaws before 

 it was swallowed. The wings of moths were generally con- 

 sumed, but the horny elytra of large beetles were bitten off and 



' Zoologist, 1901, 51-59. 



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