124 LONG-EARED BAT. 



er; and the fur has less of the reddish tinge; but 

 what immediately distinguishes it as a species, is 

 the very great size of the ears, which are more 

 than an inch long and of a very considerable 

 width : they are slightly rounded at the tips, and 

 are furnished internally, as in most others of this 

 genus, with a kind of secondary auricle or inter- 

 nal flap, so placed as to serve by way of a valve 

 or guard to the auditory passage. Linnaeus, 

 even in the twelfth edition of the Systema Naturae, 

 seems to entertain a doubt whether this species 

 be really distinct from the former, or merely a 

 sexual difference. 



This and the former are the two most common 

 species in this country; and are those which we so 

 often see fluttering about in the evenings of sum- 

 mer and autumn; frequently uttering a sharp, 

 stridulous note or scream during their flight, and 

 pursuing the various kinds of insects on which 

 they feed; particularly moths. They are some- 

 times taken by throwing up the heads of burdock 

 whitened with flour; which the Bats, either mis- 

 taking for some insect, or casually dashing against, 

 are caught by the hooked prickles and brought to 

 the ground. 



The Bat is capable, like the Mouse, of being 

 tamed to a certain degree ; and we are assured by 

 Mr. White, in his Natural History of Selborne, 

 that he was much amused in the summer of the 

 year 1 766 with the sight of a tame Bat. "It 

 would take flies out of a person's hand. If you 

 gave it any thing to eat, it brought its wings 



