24 
PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 
yet it continued so cold that only one bat came out, and one stranger was seen on 
the river, and when left them, at 10.30, all was quiet in the hole. The next day we 
did not disturb them at all. The 27th was a wet day; it cleared up in the evening; 
though still cold, seventeen bats came out; they had, however, grown very wary and 
learned to dodge the net, and would not come out unless all was quiet—they also 
first took a peep out to see that all was clear, running back if the net was not held 
perfectly steady; so acute was their hearing, that every time the gunwale of the 
boat touched the pier of the bridge, no matter how gently, there was a loud cry of 
alarm from the hole, which I did not hear except then ; and whenever a bat 
ran back from the net after this cry, all would grow quiet again for about five 
minutes, and then the scuffling, scrambling, and squealing would begin again, and 
in a few moments they would begin to come out. It was perfectly possible to dis¬ 
tinguish the two, both on the wing and when coming out of the hole—Y. Nattereri 
coming to its mouth, and thence flying straight out; whilst the Pipistrelle crept to 
the edge of the pier, and letting himself fall from thence, flew off. This, added to 
the latter’s being more wary and active in dodging the net, rendered him more difficult 
to capture, and to retain when captured, as out of three, supposed to be of this 
species captured, I was only able to retain one. V. Nattereri does not fly as rapidly 
nor make such quick turns as the Pipistrelle, and when struck into the water, floundered 
in it so as to enable me to catch him, while the Pipistrelle, under similar cir¬ 
cumstances, just touched it and was off. The cry of the Pipistrelle is much 
shriller than that of the other. There was also an unmistakeably fetid 
odour from the Pipistrelle, which I did not remark from Natterer’s bat. I 
would say that of the bats counted each night the following were the proportions:— 
June 23rd, Natterer’s bat, twenty-seven ; Pipistrelle, fourteen. 24th, Natterer’s 
bat, twenty; Pipistrelle, nine. 25th, Natterer’s bat, one. 27th, Natterer’s bat, 
eleven ; Pipistrelle, six. So that Natterer’s bat appears to be the commoner of the 
two, though this might arise from the Pipistrelle not beginning to fly till half an 
hour later than the other. On confinement their manners are very different; the 
Pipistrelle being impatient, squealing, and biting like a little fury, and running up 
and down the sides of the net; while Natterer’s bat was gentle, submitting to be 
handled, merely gaping with its mouth, and uttering a soft, low chirp ; both species 
used the exserted tip of the tail as an additional foot. Out of the specimens of 
Natterer’s bat captured or shot, the proportion of sexes were seven females and two 
males. One of Natterer’s bats lived for two days with us, and fed on flies very 
readily, and on raw meat. I remarked, however, that when the fly was not moving 
before his eyes, the bat took no notice of it, although the fly was touching its nose, 
or walking over its ears and head. I attempted to keep the others alive ; but though 
they fed well with me for some days, the journey up in the train killed them. I did 
not remark the great insensibility to the proximity of objects, which, according to 
Spallangani, is so well marked in some species, as one of them, which escaped from 
us in the house, struck himself repeatedly against the ceiling and corners of the 
room, in his efforts to elude recapture. I remarked, too, that several of them flew 
straight into the net when held perfectly steady before the hole. Save in a few par¬ 
ticulars, the bats answered nearly to the description given in Bell’s “British 
Quadrupeds.” There was a well-marked sulcus between the nostrils; the seba¬ 
ceous follicles not well-marked ; exserted portion of tail, aline and a half in length ; 
interfemoral, with from eight to fourteen bands. This character is, it would seem, 
of secondary importance, as the number of bands vary in my specimens. The male 
and the female differ slightly in dimensions, the female being the larger. The 
under surface of the latter, particularly the wings, was lighter than the former. 
The hind claws are thick and clumsy, and ciliated with stiff white hairs. The dis¬ 
tribution of this bat is curious, as in England it has only occurred in the eastern 
counties, and in this country the only two counties it has hitherto been recorded— 
Dublin and Kildare—are to the east, though I am sure it will, if looked for, be 
found in other counties also. I regret I have not any more information to supply 
your Society with in regard to the bat presented last February by me, as, owing to 
want of specimens for comparison, I am still in doubt what species to refer it to, as 
in its characters it partakes of those of both V. Daubentonii and Mystacinus Bell. 
It also resembles in one respect the species under consideration (Y. Nattereri)—viz., 
