OBSERVATIONS ON THE NOCTULE. 56 



late summer the Bats will be sought in vain at this place.* Their 

 presence or absence is no doubt determined by the distribution 

 of the insects upon which they feed. 



From the beech, whence I had watched the Noctules fly early 

 in May, I obtained nineteen on the 8th of that month. Their 

 den was in a hollow limb about forty feet from the ground. The 

 cavity, between two and three feet in length, was dry and warm 

 in its upper part, and impervious to wind and rain, whilst near 

 the lower end egress was possible by several crevices and an old 

 Woodpecker's hole, At 7.15, some three-quarters of an hour 

 before their time of fliijht, the jarring of a ladder against the tree 

 caused some of the Bats to squeak. When I broke away the 

 dead wood, however, and exposed them to the daylight, they 

 made no attempt to escape, but remained huddled together in a 

 comatose condition in the upper part of the cavity, their low 

 temperature during sleep being apparent when I handled them. 

 As I detached them from the sides of their den, to which they 

 clung tenaciously with their feet, hanging head downwards, one 

 wakened sufficiently to escape. The others, placed in a linen 

 bag, were transformed in a minute or two from cold inert 

 creatures to a hot struggling mass. Of the nineteen Bats 

 secured, all but three were males. The majority were liberated 

 at once, and took wing with ease from the flat surface on which 

 they were placed, I retained a couple, as did my friends Messrs. 

 T. A. Coward and F. S. Graves, and we were thus able to check 

 one another's observations on the actions of the Bats in captivity. 

 This species takes kindly to confinement ; one of the Bats, an 

 old female, and the principal subject of the following notes, was 

 at the end of eleven weeks in perfect health and condition. Of 

 the other captives, one was accidentally poisoned, and four were 

 released after a few days. 



The Noctule, like other Bats in captivity, shows little inclina- 

 tion 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 



* Cf. ' Zoologist,' 1895, p. 167, 



