BRITISH MAMMALS 
Though found locally in some numbers, it can scarcely be called a 
common species, though it has a much wider distribution than its cousin. 
Among other haunts, according to Millais, it frequents Kensington 
Gardens in London, and owing to the difficulty in identifying the different 
species, when hawking after their prey in the dusk of evening, this Bat may 
possibly be less rare than one might be led to suppose. 
This frail little creature, which is said to be more delicate than any other 
European Bat, seldom venturing out unless in calm weather, is difficult to 
keep in confinement for more than a few days. 
To Mr. T. A. Coward and Mr. C. Oldham we owe most of our know- 
ledge of its ways and habits in this country. 
In The Mammals of Great Britain and Ireland^ p. 36-37, Mr. Millais 
quotes the following account supplied to him by Mr. Coward, " In every 
case the Bats were hanging : some were suspended from a smooth roof, 
clinging to minute inequalities, others were at the top of holes in the caves ; 
in such positions the face of the Bat was always turned towards the nearest 
wall. Both sexes hung in company ; the largest gathering consisted of ten 
Bats. In one water-worn hole a male and female were together, an inch 
or two apart. When first found the Bats all hung with perfectly straight 
legs; their ears were partly folded back, and their faces hidden. They 
noticed the light at once, and began to sway slowly from side to side ; then 
they bent their long legs and drew themselves up, swinging with more vigour. 
The tail in every case was recurved over the back. . . . 
" When alighting after a short flight the agility of the Bat was most 
noticeable. Most Bats when they alight seize the object on which they are 
settling with the thumbs, and then rapidly turn round and take hold with 
the feet. The Horse-shoes, when an inch or so from the object, turn in 
the air, taking hold at once with the feet." 
Like the Greater Horse-shoe Bat, it usually chooses as a retreat dark 
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