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NATURAL EIS TORY. 
tioned. the two species were taken together by Montagu in “ Kent’s Hole,” clinging in considerable 
numbers to the vaulted roof of the interior apartments. It was first discovered by liim in 
rather a singular situation, namely, a hole over a baker’s oven, which it had entered through a 
fissure. He afterwards found it in a dark shed surrounded by tall trees, at Lackham, in Wiltshire. 
In the second edition of Mr. Bell’s “ British Quadrupeds ” there is an interesting account of the 
manners of this species. The writer mentions the occurrence of the Lesser Horseshoe Bat in two 
localities in Warwickshire, one of these being the roof of the neglected mansion of the Marquis of 
Hertford at Ragley, near Alcester. Numbers of Long-eared Bats were found, chiefly in pairs, in holes 
in the massive timbers, but “ although several of the Horseshoe Bats were seen flitting in the deep 
gloom, broken only by an occasional gleam of light through some small crevice, and by our lighted 
candle, yet a careful search was for some time unrewarded by the discovery of a single individual in 
its resting-place. A great accumulation of excrement around a huge central stack of chimneys at 
length attracted attention, and a long stick, thrust upwards in a narrow opening between the chimneys, 
soon dislodged several of these Bats, which were caught as they descended, and before they were well 
on the wing, after which pursuit proved useless. Some of these examples being at various times 
liberated in a room, exhibited extraordinary powers of flight. One of them displayed in its search for 
a means of exit an ability which was quite extraordinary. It literally flew into every part of the 
room, and behind and under everything, even under a bookcase standing against a wall, although there 
was scarcely a space of three inches between it and the floor .... it flew into a vacancy 
occasioned by the removal of a moderate octavo volume, without having so much as touched anything 
with the tips of its wings.” In examining the window this Bat searched every pane inch by inch, its 
wings while thus occupied being “ kept in a vibratory state, the face of the animal being directly in 
front of the glass, and very near to it, as if looking out of window.” The impression produced on the 
observers was that the animal was “feeling its way about like a blind person but “at the same time 
its .shyness when approached sufficiently testified that its organs of sight were by no means inactive.” 
In order to rest, instead of adhering like most other Bats against some object by means of its claws, 
it always sought for something from which it could hang freely. According to Dr. Leach this Bat 
is easily tamed, but is fond of concealing itself. 
Besides the English localities already mentioned, the Lesser Horseshoe Bat is found not unfre- 
quently at Cirencester and in some parts of Ireland. Professor King has obtained it in Galway ; and 
from the statements of Mr. Foot and Professor Kinahan it ap- 
pears to be the commonest Bat in some parts of County Clare. 
Its European distribution is much the same as that of the 
preceding species, but it seems to extend rather farther to the 
north. It is also found in the Caucasus and in South-western 
Siberia. North African specimens are said to be paler in 
colour than European.* 
THE MOURNING HORSESHOE BAT.+ 
Other species of Rhinolophus are met with chiefly in India 
and the Asiatic Islands. One of the most striking of them, 
and indeed the largest species of the genus, measuring more 
than three and a half inches in length, is the Mourning Horse- 
shoe Bat ( Rhinolophus Indus , see figure), an inhabitant of the 
higher grounds of India, Ceylon, Java, Sumatra, and the Philippine Islands. This Bat is remarkable for 
the great development of the nasal appendages, the central leaf being expanded on each side into a lobe 
nearly as long as the central ascending portion, the horseshoe very large, so as to project beyond the 
upper lip, and the frontal leaf so long as to ascend between the ears. The latter organs are also of 
# Besides the two species found in Britain, two others inhabit southern Europe, the Levant, and Northern Africa, namely, 
Rhinolophus euryale and R. Blasii, the latter often described under the name of R. clivosus. Both these species are nearly 
allied to our Horseshoe Rats, 
f Rhinolophus luctus. 
HEAD or THE MOURNING HORSESHOE HAT. 
