THE CROSSBILL. 
383 
opposite members. When seen attached to the 
ceilings of caverns, it is surprising to observe by 
what very small eminences or points of the stone 
they hang ; the least breath of air also causing 
their bodies to swing to and fro. When disturbed 
during summer in these retreats by noise or the 
light of a candle, a tremulous movement is seen to 
agitate their whole frames, and I have moreover 
seen the same tremor on other occasions. 
Bats do not often come forth from their retreats 
during rainy weather in summer, and in winter the 
amount of cold regulates their torpor. In November 
I have seen them quite torpid, in severe weather in 
January, active, in September only lethargic, but 
much depends on the place selected for retirement; 
I have known numbers removed from holes in lime 
kilns, and from crevices over bakers’ ovens, where 
warmth would keep them in a semi-torpid state,— 
susceptible of impressions made by slight increase 
of atmospheric temperature. 
The Crossbill _We are, at uncertain periods with 
usually very long intervals, visited by flocks of 
Crossbills. I am informed that a flock of about 60 
or 70 visited the estate of Leigham one year, and it 
does generally appear that they arrive in very con¬ 
siderable parties and subsequently separate into 
smaller communities. A small flock visited this 
village the beginning of October, 1835, and I find 
on enquiry another was here about seven years 
since, and one about twenty-five years before that. 
They commonly abide in orchards, busied in 
splitting up small apples for the sake of the con¬ 
tained pips, and seem very partial to the sort here 
termed “ majets.” They are dexterous operators, 
and continue intent on their work notwithstanding 
the presence of inspectors and even the explosion 
of firearms, so that there is little question they 
come to us from some wild and uninhabited district. 
