1(3 
MAMMALS OF LEICESTERSHIRE AKD RUTLAND. 
were numbers of Bats flying inside and outside the church ; but, choosing the 
inside, I stationed myself by one of the windows of the chancel, between which 
and a stove-pipe the Bats were flitting. After two hours’ work, and several 
misses, I managed to catch three Pipistrelles, and, much to my joy, one Natterer’s 
Bat. The flight of the two species varied much, the Pipistrelles flying quicker, 
and constantly changing the direction of their flight in a zigzag kind of manner, 
whereas the flight of Natterer’s Bat was more fully sustained, and much more 
direct, though somewhat slower. A marked difference between the flight of the 
two species was, not so much the greater spread of wing, as the evident h'eadth 
of the wing-membrane. Most noticeable, however, was the greyish-white tint 
of the under part of the body ; and this was readily observed, not only when 
flying in the light of the lamps, but when the animal was high up, or in 
the darkest parts of the church— so much so, indeed, that the people who were 
assisting constantly exclaimed “ Here comes a xohite-waistcoatecl one.” 
The specimen, which was a male, was very amiable in captivity, and we fed 
him two or three times with pieces of raw meat soaked in water, which he greedily 
seized when hungry, making, however, very little progress, a small piece the 
size of a barley-corn lasting him a quarter of an hour. He took flesh from the 
fingers, and lapped water from a spoon in the most comical way imaginable. 
He was infested with a small, long, light-coloured flea, which he dislodged by 
scratching himself like a Bog, often bringing his foot over from the back to 
scratch his head. At first he was very lively, and we indulged him with 
several flights around the room. When running on the floor of his cage, he 
kept his head and breast very erect, and ran along rapidly, assisting him- 
self by strokes of the closed wing-membranes, the carpal-joints being brought 
to the ground alternately. His favourite position in repose was head down- 
wards, the body disposed as shewn by the illustration. He did not care to 
suspend himself fi’om sticks or strings fixed across his cage, but had a passion 
for suspending himself, by his little claws, from the meshes of muslin or wire 
netting which covered the air-holes of his temporary prison. Cold weather 
supervening, he became very sluggish, and finally died after nine days, in spite 
of all care, refusing all the delicacies (including flies, which he never appeared 
to eat) with which we tried to tempt him. When alive, I made several 
sketches from him, four of which, not quite life-size, I have reproduced here : 
viz., one shewing the animal in repose, clinging to the top of his cage ; another 
shewing the head in normal attitude, when alert; the third representing the 
same when alarmed or threatening, at which time he uttered his little sibilant 
squeak, threw the tragus forward, and erected his fur ; the last shews the 
inter-femoral membrane — the margin of which is armed with very stiff, light- 
golden hairs — and part of the foot, with the attachment of the membranes. 
Description and measurements are : — colour above, warm grey with a golden 
glance, grey at the roots ; underneath, silvery-grey, blackish-grey at the roots ; 
