194 MAMMALIA. 



le^ss than ten minutes, accortlinL;' to the season. The loss of tiine, 

 therefore, occasioned hy searchino- for faUcMi ])ats is of the most 

 serious conse(|uence. antl can only be ox'ercomie by the aid of a dog, 

 or of an associate. In fact, the \alue of a willino- assistant can 

 scarcel)- be exag'o'erat(;d. He stands a little to one sick; of the 

 hunter and carefulK' notc^s the line; in which a bat falls. The 

 hunter likewise marks the direction, and as bcHh adx'ance simul- 

 taneousl)', the point of intersection of the two lines shows the exact 

 position of the bat. A lantern with a good reflector is of some 

 service, but too much reliance must not be placed ui)on it, and it 

 should alwa\-s be carried by the assistant, who, wIumx; bats are fairly 

 abundant, may double the nuniber of specimens secured. 



The earliest date at which I have observed the Silver-haired Bat 

 in the Black River X'alley is the 26th of April {'18S4'). It com- 

 UKMiced to ll)' at about 7.20 i". m. 



VESPERTILIO SUBULATUS Say. 

 Little IhuK,')! Bat. 



Next to the silver-haired bat, this is the commonest and most 

 uni\-ersall\- distributc;d species in tht; Adirondacks, so far as my 

 observations extend. Professor Baird has taken the t)-pical animal 

 at Elizabethtown. and the form known as lucifuous at Westport. 

 Dr. A. K. iMsher and Mr. Oliver B. Lockhart have killed it at 

 Lake George, and Walter H. Merriam in Keene Valley, these 

 localities being all ujion the eastern slope of the mountains ; and 1 

 have a specimen from Big Moose Lake in the interior, and have 

 found it in considerable numbers at several places on the western 

 side of the Wilderness. 



In coloration, the )-oung of the; Little Brown Bat differs from 

 its parents even more than does the young of the silver-haired 

 species. An immature male which I shot August 15th, 1883, had 

 attained the full dimensions of the adidt, but was of an entirely 



