58 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



into the pouch, and in others eaten without that preliminarj'. It 

 should be remarked, however, that Cockroaches, despite their 

 size, submitted very tamely to their fate. On no occasion was 

 foot, carpus, or thumb used to secure or dismember prey. 



The insects eaten by any creature in captivity cannot be 

 taken as a criterion of its food in a free state, but it may be 

 worth while to note that, in addition to the moths already men- 

 tioned, the following, among others, were readily taken by the 

 Bats : — Mamestra persicarue, Leiicania pallens, Hepialus humvli, 

 H. sylvinus, H. hectus, Rumia cratcegata, Urapteryx samhucata, 

 Odoiitopera bidentata, Fidonia atomaria, F. piniaria, and Amphi- 

 dasis betularia. The Bats appeared to be unable to see food if 

 held but little more than an inch in front of them, and this was 

 the case in natural twilight, as well as in an artificially lighted 

 room. It is therefore very doubtful whether, in a free state, they 

 would avoid a distasteful moth because its nauseous properties 

 were advertised by its warning colours. 



That certain insects were distasteful was clearly shown by 

 the behaviour of one of the Bats. It seized a moth {Euchelia 

 jacohcEce) from my fingers, but dropped it immediately, shaking 

 its head from side to side in evident disgust. Taking the moth 

 in my fingers, I ofi'ered it again to the Bat, which declined to 

 touch it, I then held the moth with a pair of forceps, which I 

 generally used in feeding the Bats, as being less susceptible to 

 their sharp teeth than were my finger-tips, and which were 

 intimately associated with food in their minds. The moth was 

 seized at once, but dropped immediately with repeated signs of 

 disgust, and I could not induce the Bat to take it a third time. 

 On the two following evenings I offered it other moths of the 

 same species, doing so before I gave it other food, in order to 

 make sure that it was hungry, but it would not touch them, 

 although it sniffed at them, and probably recalled their nauseous 

 qualities by its sense of smell. On another occasion an example 

 of Abraxas grossulariata was seized twice, and then dropped with 

 every appearance of disgust, and I could not get the Bat to touch 

 it again. 



Two other moths {Spilosoma menthastri and S. lubricipeda) 

 appear to be unpalatable, but in a lesser degree. The first time 

 I offered the Bat a menthastri, it seized and ate it without 



