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MAMMALIA. 
Order CHIROPTERA. Family Vespertilionidze. 
ATALAPHA CINEREA (Beauvois) Peters. 
Hoary Bat. 
This species, which differs from the red bat in its much larger 
size, as well as in coloration, is not rare in the Adironclacks, and I 
have taken it both in the interior and along' the western border of 
the region. 
The Hoary Bat can be recognized, even in the dusk of evening, 
by its great size, its long and pointed wings, and the swiftness and 
irregularity of its flight. It does not start out so early as our other 
bats, and is consequently much more difficult to shoot. The borders 
of woods, water courses, and roadways through the forest are among 
its favorite resorts, and its nightly range is vastly greater than that 
of any of its associates. While the other species are extremely local, 
moving to and fro over a very restricted area, this traverses a com- 
paratively large extent of territory in its evening excursions, which 
fact is probably attributable to its superior power of flight. 
Imagine for the moment, sympathetic reader, that you are an 
enthusiastic bat hunter, and have chanced to visit some northern 
forest where this handsome species occurs. The early evening finds 
you, gun in hand, near the border of a lonely wood. The small bats 
soon begin to fly, and in the course of fifteen or twenty minutes you 
may have killed several, all of which prove to be the silver-haired 
species ( Vesperugo noctivagans). The twilight is fast lading into 
night, and your eyes fairly ache from the. constant effort of searching 
its obscurity, when suddenly a large bat is seen approaching, perhaps 
high above the tree-tops, and has scarcely entered the limited field 
of vision when, in swooping for a passing insect, he cuts the line of 
the distant horizon and disappears in the darkness below. In breath- 
less suspense you wait for him to rise, crouching low that his form 
may be sooner outlined against the dim light that still lingers in the 
northwest, when he suddenly shoots by, seemingly as big as an owl, 
