BRITISH MAMMALS 
old oaks in the Rev. E. Hickling's grounds ; so many as two hundred 
I might be seen on any fine evening in the summer flying above a small 
meadow only about three acres in size." 
The winter sleep of the Noctule usually lasts fi'om late October until 
March and early April, though on occasions it has been seen abroad in 
the months of November, December and February. 
The flight of this Bat is swift and powerful, and on fine summer 
evenings is usually maintained at a high altitude. At other times, probably 
depending on the state of the weather, the flight is much lower and often 
quite near the ground or over some sheet of water. 
Like the Serotine, this species, when pursuing its prey, fi'equently 
makes that sudden and characteristic plunge already referred to. 
Mr. Millais has noted that Noctules often change their hunting- 
ground, and that a colony may be seen one evening feeding in the 
immediate neighbourhood of their home-tree, and on another hawking 
over a meadow more than a mile and a half away. 
A great deal has been learned of late years of the habits of this 
species from the observations of Messrs. Coward, Millais, Oldham, Steele, 
Elliott, and others, which shows that the evening flight only lasts about 
an hour, when the Bats retire to their dens, emerging again later to 
continue their hunt till shortly before dawn. 
When at rest or in the act of pouching an insect the tail of the 
Noctule is bent forwards under the body, when in flight it is usually 
held straight out or curved a little downwards. 
The food consists mainly of large flying beetles, which the Bats eat 
while on the wing, nipping off^ the strong wing-cases wdth their powerful 
teeth. 
Mr. Oldham, describing the habits of this species {Zoologist^ 1901, 
pp. 51-59), says: "As the light fades, the Bats descend to a lower 
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