Whitaker : Notes on Bats. 



73 



perch, consuming them so rapidly that I had the greatest 

 -difficulty in keeping all three bats supplied when all were 

 dining at the same time. 



During the first few days of their captivity they always 

 pressed any insect given them against the skin of the wing, 

 [i.e., the inter-brachial membrane) until they had secured 

 a good grip of it. Later, when they had become more 

 accustomed to meal-worms, they almost abandoned the 

 practice, no doubt realising that it was unnecessary. Moths 

 given to them were invariably so treated. This habit is 

 excellently described in an interesting article on "The 

 ■Greater Horseshoe Bat in Captivity," * written by that most 

 accurate observer of bats, Mr. T. A. Coward. It is well 

 illustrated on Plate IL, Figs. 6, 7 and 9. 



On July 27th the two Greater Horseshoe Bats then in my 

 keeping had a most terrific fight sometime during the night, 

 for in the morning I found one dead, the wings being torn and 

 lacerated in several places, and the face and nostrils covered 

 with blood The other bat had only bled slightly at the 

 nostrils and was little the worse. I had not previously seen 

 the slightest sign of ill-feeling between them. 



The surviving bat escaped from its cage at dusk on July 

 28th, and although I saw it flying about the garden for some 

 little time, I did not manage to re-capture it. 



One evening, about a week later, my friend Mr. Armitage 

 felt confident he saw a bat of this species flying at dusk at a 

 •considerable altitude over the field adjoining our garden. This 

 supposition was confirmed in a rather remarkable manner, for 

 on the 4th of September, more than five weeks after my pet 

 had escaped, Mr. Armitage and I again saw it, when together. 

 We were returning from a ramble, and at 9-15 p.m., more than 

 an hour after dusk, we were surprised to see it busily engaged 

 in catching moths, as they flew about some thistle flowers 

 growing on the railway bank at Worsborough Bridge, and 

 directly in the path of light which fell from the back window 

 • of the signal box at the level crossing. 



We saw the bat several times between 9-15 and 10 o'clock, 

 as it flew by, or hovered about in the light from the window. 

 Its large size, pale colour, and delicate, fluttering flight, 

 rendered it quite unmistakable, and though I again failed to 



* Vol. 52, Part II., Manchester Lit. and Phil. Society Memoirs. 

 1909 March i. 



