220 VESPERTILIONID^— BARBASTELLA 



of repose during the day, but during its evening flight, proves 

 to have been less correct, although supported by Dr Henry 

 Laver ; for, besides the evidence of the Radnorshire colony, we 

 have Mr Millais's statement, on theauthority of Mr A. G. Berry, 

 that a small flock frequents the roof of Wells Cathedral. Again, 

 Mr J. H. Jenkinson^ met with a party of six or seven in their 

 hiding-place in the month of June ; and in the spring on another 

 occasion discovered a mixed assemblage, consisting of a 

 Natterer's Bat, a Barbastelle, and two or three Pipistrelles. 

 True, he does not say definitely that the bats were in the 

 latter case actually together, although undoubtedly inhabiting 

 adjacent crevices, but Lord Lilford expressly states^ that he 

 " found this curious-looking little animal in great abundance in a 

 ruined monastery in Arragon, at the foot of the Pyrenees, . . . 

 and in smaller numbers in a similar locality at P6tes, in the pro- 

 vince of Santander," so that there must be seasons, perhaps those 

 of procreation, when it courts the society of its own species. 



It thus appears that the Barbastelle is no less sociable' and 

 gregarious, perhaps even more so, than the Long-eared and 

 other species. Some of those which Mr Owen found hanging 

 from a beam in the church porch at Llanelwedd, had formed 

 themselves into a small and compact ball. A week later 

 a bunch of ten were found occupying the same position, 

 so that it is evident that at least in summer this species 

 has rightly gained its reputation for wandering. When 

 disturbed early in the morning or in the afternoon, the Barbas- 

 telles were in a condition of deep torpidity, markedly distinct 

 from the state of the Long-eared Bat, but their actions were 

 very different at eventime, when if disturbed they exhibited 

 great agility in attempting to avoid capture. 



In Radnorshire the Barbastelle is an early-flier, leaving its 

 diurnal resting-place at sunset, and preceding by some little 

 time the Pipistrelle, the Long-eared Bat, and even the Noctule. 

 Mr Owen has often seen the swifts and Barbastelles flying 

 about his rectory for nearly an hour before the former retired 

 for the night. Their habits and flight vary with the weather. 

 1 Zoologist, 1857, 5590. 2 Ibid., 1887, 66-67. 



^ Two Cambridgeshire specimens were found hanging side by side on the wall of 

 an old shed much frequented by Long-eared Bats. They were "almost, but not quite, 

 touching one another" (Arthur Whitaker, Naturalist, 1910, 424). 



