INTRODUCTION. 
14 
nor the comfortable seat which Ariel appears to have 
found “ on the bat’s back ” ( Tempest , Act v. Sc. 1). 
The following striking passage must also be familiar to 
readers of Shakespeare :— 
“ Ere the bat hath flown 
His cloister’d flight ; ere, to black Hecate’s summons, 
The shard-borne beetle, with his drowsy hums, 
Hath rung night’s yawning peal, 
There shall be done a deed of dreadful note.” 
Macbeth , Act iii. Sc. 2. 
In a printed broadside of the time of Queen Anne, 
in the collection of the Society of Antiquaries of London, 
is the following curious fable relating to the Bat :— 
“615. The Birds and Beasts. A Fable. 
“ Once the Birds and Beasts strove for the prerogative : 
the neuter Batt, seeing the Beasts prevail, goes to them 
and shows them her large forehead, long ears, and teeth : 
afterwards, when the Birds prevail’d, the Batt flies with 
the Birds, and sings chit, chit, chat, and shows them her 
wings. 
“ Hence Beakless Bird, hence Winged Beast, they cry’d ; 
Hence plumeless wings ; thus scorn her either side. 
“ London. Printed for Edw. Lewis, 
Flower-de-Luce Court, Fleet Street. 1710. ’ 
