TVPICAL BATS. 33 



the present species. In Wales the Noctule appears to be un- 

 known; and it is not recorded by Thompson among the Mam- 

 mals of Ireland. There is, however, reason to believe that it 

 is an inhabitant of the latter island, as may be gathered from 

 the following extract from a paper on Bats by Mr. Harting, 

 who writes that in the Zoologist for 1874 "Mr. Barrington 

 gave a very interesting account of the discovery, in June, 1868, 

 of a colony of large Bats in the demesne of the Duke of Man- 

 chester at Tandragee, county Armagh, and of the subsequent 

 capture of several (presumably of the same species) at the same 

 place in May, 1874. Mr. Barrington identified them as V. 

 leisleri, observing ' they were all of the hairy-armed species. I 

 have presented two specimens to the British Museum.' These 

 two specimens were examined by Dr. Dobson in 1876, and he 

 pronounced them to be immature examples of V. noctula." 

 This seems to establish the occurrence of the latter species in 

 Ireland, where, however, it may well be accompanied by the 

 Hairy-armed Bat. In England it appears to be more common 

 in some of the midland counties than elsewhere. 



Habits. — The first notice of the habits of this species in 

 Britain was from the pen of Gilbert White, who remarks that 

 in Hampshire it is a rare species, flying at a great height in the 

 air when in pursuit of its food, and retiring early in the sum- 

 mer. In his native village, this observer states, indeed, that he 

 never saw the Noctule abroad before April nor after July ; but 

 subsequent observations have shown that in the same neigh- 

 bourhood it may frequently be seen in August and September, 

 while in Cambridgeshire it has been recorded as late as 

 November. 



AVith the exception of the Mouse-coloured Bat, the Noctule 



is the largest of the British members of the Order, and it is 



essentially a gregarious species, collecting in large numbers for 



its winter sleep. Upwards of one hundred and eighty-five 



5 n 



