52 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



the ceiling of the room and sometimes skim just above the 

 carpet, or backwards and forwards along a sofa ; it dodged in 

 and out amongst the chair legs and beneath the table without 

 touching anything with the tips of its wings. In this it did not 

 differ from other captive Bats, but its appearance in flight was 

 distinctive. Its wings were long and somewhat narrow, but the 

 most noticeable thing was that the tail was extended when the 

 Bat was on the wing, and was not carried half-bent beneath the 

 body as it certainly appears to be in many species, even in 

 the closely-allied Whiskered Bat (cf. Oldham, Zool. 1899, p. 52). 

 The tail being thus extended, no pouch or bag was formed by 

 the interfemoral membrane into which, we conclude from ob- 

 servations made on Bats in captivity, an insect seized is thrust 

 until a firm grip is secured (Zool. 1899, pp. 471-474). The 

 angle formed by the edge of the interfemoral membrane, with 

 the tip of the tail as the apex, is remarkably obtuse in this 

 species, and there is a distinct notch at the distal end of the 

 calcaneum. When the Bat was on a flat surface the tail was 

 carried in the usual curve, the tip touching the ground, and 

 although the interfemoral pouch was not held in readiness 

 when in flight, insects which were troublesome when captured 

 were thrust into the pouch in the usual manner if the animal 

 was fed when hanging or on a flat surface. 



Flies, bluebottles, crane-flies, spiders, woodlice, and small 

 mealworms were snatched from my fingers and devoured with- 

 out further trouble, but when a large and powerful mealworm, 

 a beetle, or a strong moth was given to the Bat it was imme- 

 diately thrust into the pouch. The Bat withdrew its head 

 and crunched up its prey openly directly it had secured a 

 firm grip, but with a moth like Plusia gamma this was not 

 at once accomplished ; when a moth of this species or one 

 of about the same strength was given to it, the Bat often 

 rolled over in its struggles to overcome its victim. When 

 once the insect was firmly held it was crunched up rapidly, 

 the wings, and sometimes the head, being dropped. 



It was by no means necessary to feed this Bat by hand ; 

 winged insects left in its cage overnight were generally 

 missing in the morning. When it was fully awake it would 

 endeavour to capture any buzzing insect which was put 



