2o6 VESPERTILIONID^— PLECOTUS 



species in winter in the caves at Alderley Edge, and that these 

 repeatedly shift their quarters. Many similar instances can be 

 adduced, so that hibernation in the case of the Long-eared 

 Bat, at any rate, is not as profound or as unbroken as was at 

 one time supposed, but is repeatedly interrupted ; and, appar- 

 ently, this is liable to occur whenever the thermometer rises 

 above 46° F." 



The retreat of the Long-eared Bat is frequently beneath 

 the roofs of tiled houses in villages or towns, in which places 

 they may be found in summer — males, females and young — 

 suspended in clusters ^ from the timbers, and during the winter 

 closely packed between the tiles or in holes, so that unques- 

 tionably the same haunts are occupied throughout the year. 

 But, as related above, solitary specimens, the cause of whose 

 lack of sociability is unknown, may be found in their own 

 private dens in winter and spring — in one case instanced by 

 Messrs Alcock and Moffat so late as 2nd May. In fact, 

 Mr Charles Oldham goes so far as to inform me that in his 

 experience solitary hibernation is the almost invariable rule, 

 at least as regards the copper-mine tunnels of Alderley Edge, 

 Cheshire, and the old lead-workings in the Derbyshire dales ; 

 whilst in the Henley-on-Thames cavern, Mr A. H. Cocks 

 and Dr E. A. Wilson^ found five, all resting singly, on 14th 

 February. 



An interesting feature in the animal's economy is its habit 

 of appearing for a brief season in summer in colonies or 

 " swarms " in certain places to which it is at other times a 

 stranger. These gatherings, to quote again Messrs Alcock 

 and Moffat, "seldom remain more than a few weeks. In 

 two consecutive years, 1898-1899, a space between the wood- 

 work and wall of the farm-stable at Ballyhyland was occupied 

 by a swarm . . . during the first fortnight of August, 

 which disappeared soon after the middle of the month. 

 In the second year of their visit (1899) particular pains 

 were taken not to disturb them, but by August 20th 

 none remained. In August, 1900, there was a swarm 

 over the doorway of a neighbouring forge, of which not 

 a trace could be found in September; and in July, 1901, 



' Compare Goldsmith's " Lazy bats in drowsy clusters cling." 2 jjj jj^ 



