Part 6

As already indicated, the flight of this Bat is usually low, and it alights to consume its prey, which it presses against the wing membrane, the interfemoral pouch not being large enough for the purpose. Its food consists chiefly of the larger beetles, such as cockchafers and dor-beetles, the quick-running ground-beetle Pterostichus, moths, flies, bees, and caddis-flies. It appears to be a thirsty creature, and may be seen lapping water. It takes its daytime sleep in caves, dark buildings, lofts and roofs. It may hang singly or crowd into crevices. Mr. Coward found it in the Cheddar caves hanging in bunches. Their overhead resorts are revealed by heaps of excrement below. Their natural resting attitude is hanging by the feet head downwards. They cannot walk on a flat surface, and before alighting on a vertical one they turn a somersault in the air to get the proper position. Their senses are so acute that Mr. Chas. Oldham says: "Even when sunk in winter sleep they appreciate a man's approach. The eyes are, of course, then shrouded by the wings, and the sense of danger must be conveyed to them either by hearing, smell, or, as seems to be most probable, by the exercise of their extraordinary tactile sense, which enables them to actually feel the approaching danger."

There is but one young at a birth, which occurs at the end of June or in July. Its eyes are closed, and the underside is quite naked and the skin purple. The eyes open about the tenth day.

The Larger Horse-shoe Bat has an extensive distribution. From England it is found through Central Europe and the Mediterranean region, through the Himalayas to China and southern Japan. In our own country it is found chiefly in the South-west of England, South and West Wales, but does not occur in either Scotland or Ireland. The presence or absence of caves suitable for a winter retreat appears to have some bearing upon its distribution.

*Lesser Horse-shoe Bat* (Rhinolophus hipposideros, Bechstein).

The Lesser Horse-shoe Bat is much smaller and more delicately built than the species last described. The nose-leaf has a narrower outline and its sella is more wedge-shaped; the lancet slender with a wedge-shaped tip. The expanse of wings is less than ten inches, and the length of the forearm is only an inch and a half. The colour is much the same as in the larger species, but somewhat darker above and more yellow below. Its habits are similar also, but, naturally, it does not hunt such large beetles, nor does it fly so low. It has a more fluttering flight with intervals of gliding. Its "tchek-tchek" cry is of lower pitch than in most Bats, and Oldham compares it to a diminutive of the alarm-note of the Greater Spotted Woodpecker.

The single young one is born somewhat later than in the last species: it is born like the other with a thin coat of downy hair on the upper side only.

Males, apparently, are more numerous than females.

The species appears to be more abundant in localities where there are caves which provide it with the equable temperature it requires in hibernation. It is most susceptible to wind, and will frequently remain inactive in its shelter because there is wind outside. Even tame individuals exhibit a strong desire to get into the most retired corners and crevices. The first recorded British example was taken in a cavity over a baker's oven to which it had obtained access through a small fissure.

It may be considered a common species in the South of England from Kent to Cornwall, and more sparingly to Wales. It is unknown in East Anglia, rare in the Midlands, and its northward range terminates at Ripon. In Ireland it occurs in the West only, in some parts of which it is the commonest species. Its wider distribution includes Central Europe, Mediterranean, to Gilgit; northward in Europe to the Baltic.

*Whiskered Bat* (Myotis mystacinus, Kuhl).

The small and usually solitary Whiskered Bat was formerly considered to be a rare species, but it turns out that the naturalists of last century frequently confused it with the Common Bat--the Pipistrelle--which, however, is smaller and has a broader muzzle. The head and body measure about an inch and a half, and the tail the same length. The wings are narrow, but long, and have an expanse of nine inches.

The soft, long fur of the upper parts is light yellowish-brown in colour; lighter, almost dirty white below. It extends but slightly on the wing membrane, and there is little of it on the long, slender ear, whose outer margin is deeply notched, and the straight, tapering tragus half the length of the shell of the ear. The hinder margin of the brownish black wing membrane is continued to the base of the toes, and the spur (calcar) reaches halfway from the ankle to the long tail. Owing to the length of the fur on the face the small eyes are almost hidden and the face appears to be very short. There is a bristly moustache on the upper lip which has suggested its trivial and scientific names.

Though reputed to be of solitary disposition--and it usually enjoys its daytime rest apart from its kin--it has been taken in numbers on several occasions. It makes its appearance early in the evening, flying low along hedgerows, plantations, and cliffs, its method of hunting being not to chase flying insects in the air but to pick off such as have settled on leaves and twigs. It may also be seen at times flying in the daytime. It has a fondness for the neighbourhood of woods and water, where it finds many flies, beetles, and moths in flight. It is quite silent on the wing.

Mr. Oldham describes the flight of the Whiskered Bat as "slow, steady, and silent--I have never heard this species squeak on the wing. Individuals did not appear to wander far, but confined their attentions to single pools or short stretches of the stream, where they flitted about the alder-bushes or threaded their way with marvellous precision through the lower branches of the sycamore trees. I never saw one rise to a greater height than twenty feet, and often they flew within a few inches of the ground or skimmed the surface of a pool for a yard or two, only to rise again to resume their flight around the alders."

It is not very particular where it takes its daytime sleep. Any sort of shelter will do, whether it be a hollow tree or under a piece of loose bark, a hole in the wall, a roof, or behind window shutters. Its hibernation is passed by preference in a cave, whence it emerges for a flight whenever the weather is fine. In spite of its customary silence, it can produce a feeble squeak.

On the wing it is not easily distinguished from the Pipistrelle, which is so similar in size; but the noisiness of the Pipistrelle compared with the silence of the Whiskered Bat is the best guide.

The solitary young one is born in June or July.

It is widely distributed throughout England, with the exception of East Anglia. In Yorkshire it has been found at an elevation of 1400 feet. It appears to be common in Wales and Ireland, but rare in Scotland. It occurs all over Europe where there are trees, and extends eastwards to Asia. It is the smallest member of its genus.

We have three other representatives of the genus Myotis, which is probably the largest as it is the most widely distributed of all the genera of Bats. They are all of slender, delicate form, which is seen most clearly in the shape of the skull, the muzzle, the ear and its tragus. They agree also in having thirty-eight teeth--six more than in the Horse-shoe Bat. The dental formula of all the members of the genus is: i 2/3, c 1/1, p 3/3, m 3/3 = 38.

*Red-grey Bat* (Myotis nattereri, Kuhl).

The Red-grey or Natterer's Bat is somewhat larger than the Whiskered Bat, the head and body measuring about an inch and three-quarters, but the tail is relatively shorter, being only an inch and a half. It has the longest wings of our species of Myotis, their expanse being equal to eleven inches and a quarter.

The long, soft and dense fur is of a greyish-brown colour above and whitish on the underside. The wing membranes are dusky. It has a small head, with a narrow muzzle which is naked at the tip and slightly overhangs the lower jaw. The face is so densely covered with fur that the small eyes are hidden. There is also a moustache, and above the lips on each side is a prominent gland. The large oval ear is notched on the outer margin above the middle, and the long slender tragus is more than half the length of the ear, ending in a long, very slender point. The wing membrane extends to the base of the outer toe, and the interfemoral membrane is distinctly fringed with stiff hairs along its lower edge. The tail, which is carried extended behind, is slightly less than the head and body in length.

The Red-grey Bat shares the Whiskered Bat's partiality for wooded districts, where it may often be seen in numbers, even before sunset. Unlike the last-named species it is both sociable and gregarious, and its daytime retreat in holes in walls, hollow trees, and caverns, is shared with Bats of its own and other species. It flies low, with a slow, steady flight, and often picks flies and small moths off leaves and twigs. When so engaged like the Whiskered Bat it may be known from it by its noisy chirping. It will turn somersaults in the air in order to alight by clinging with its feet.

The solitary young one is born towards the end of June.

It does not appear to be a generally distributed species even in the South of England. Its range extends from Cornwall and the Isle of Wight to Durham and Norfolk. It also occurs in Wales and various parts of Ireland. In Scotland it has been reported from Argyll, Midlothian, and Montrose. It is a native of Central and Southern Europe, extending north to the south of Sweden.

*Bechstein's Bat* (Myotis bechsteinii, Kuhl).

Bechstein's Bat has a general resemblance to the Red-grey Bat, but is slightly larger, with ears almost twice the breadth of those of that species, and the feet relatively as well as actually larger. Though the skull is larger, it is actually narrower than in that species. The thin ears are relatively larger than those of any European Bat, except the Long-eared Bat, where, however, they are of quite different shape and are connected by their lower margins, whilst here their bases are widely apart. The form of the ear is like that of the Whiskered Bat; so is the tragus, and the shape of the wings.

It is covered with soft, woolly fur, which is a greyish-brown on the upper parts and buff-grey below. The membranes are dark brown; that of the wing arises from the base of the toes, and that of the interfemoral leaves the last joint of the tail free.