almost exclusively, upon the smaller species of Lepidoptera; there were fragments
of other insects, but I failed to ascertain the order to which they belonged.’
Mr. Coward has supplied me with the following notes on the Lesser Horseshoe
Bat, which he has found on several occasions, and has watched both in its
native caves and in his room at home. He says: * I have taken this Bat in the
caves at Cefn, Denbigh; at Tremeirchion, Flintshire; and in an old working in
the limestone between Glyn and Llanarmon in the Ceiriog Valley, also in Denbighshire.
I have also had a specimen from Kent’s Hole, Torquay.
‘ All these Bats were taken in March or April; and from the fact that there
was matter in the intestines of some killed immediately and fresh droppings below
where others were hanging, it appears likely that they either feed in the caves or
had been abroad. In every case the Bats were hanging: some were suspended
from a smooth roof, clinging to minute inequalities, others were at the top of
holes in the caves; in such positions the face of the Bat was always turned
towards the nearest wall. Both sexes hung in company; the largest gathering
consisted of ten Bats. In one water-worn hole a male and female were together,
an inch or two apart. When first found the Bats all hung with perfectly straight
legs; their ears were partly folded back, and their faces hidden. They noticed the
light at once, and began to sway slowly from side to side; then they bent their
long legs and drew themselves up, swinging with more vigour. The tail in every
case was recurved over the back. When the head was exposed and the ears were
extended, as the Bats woke up, the movements became quicker; when awake, the
ears were constantly in motion, the head was jerked upwards and sideways, and
the whole body was swung on the legs. One Bat turned its body fully a quarter
of a circle many times.1
‘ When first touched the Bats uttered a low squeak ; the voice is quite different
from that of any other Bat I have examined. I have always found this species
difficult to keep; Mr. Oldham and Dr. Alcock have also been unsuccessful. One
which lived four days took readily to mealworms after the juice of one had been
smeared on its face; the first day it would only eat half a mealworm, but the
next day it took six fair-sized worms and a small caddis-fly. It would not touch
this fly until it had eaten the grubs. This Bat found great difficulty in masticating
the hard skin of the worms, its teeth being small and its jaws feeble, but it took
to them well and asked for more, biting my fingers and even taking a bit of my
jacket in its mouth. It drank water from the end of a camel’s-hair brush, and also
1 These attitudes and movements are exactly similar in the Greater Horseshoe Bat—J. G. M.
took a little milk. When walking on the table the tail was held above the back,
and when it was struggling with a large worm there was no movement of the tail
perceptible. It several times, however, made a movement with its head as if it
wished to “ pouch ” the struggling worm in order to secure a firmer grip; the tail
is so short that the interfemoral pouch could hardly be used for this purpose. We
tried to see if the tail was extended in flight— the legs are certainly held straight
behind— but we could not make out with certainty. When the Bat dipped its
head downwards, to secure a better grip, it appeared to use the ends of the fingers
in pushing the prey towards its mouth; it did not use the thumb. It also took
a worm from the table, an action which it is difficult to teach to a Noctule.
‘ When alighting after a short flight the agility of the Bat was most noticeable.
Most Bats when they alight seize the object on which they are settling with the
thumbs, and then rapidly turn round and take hold with the feet. The Horseshoes,
when an inch or so from the object, turn in the air, taking hold at once with the
feet. We watched this over and over again. The Bat alighted on a curtain, a
smooth brass rod, and even on a smooth wall-paper. Noctules will attempt to
settle on the wall, but always slip off; the Horseshoe clung at once.’
With reference to a more recent visit to the Cefn Caves in November 1903»
Mr. Coward sends me some further notes about this Bat which throw some fresh
light on its hibernation and methods of feeding.
‘ The main entrance to Cefn Caves is halfway up a steep bluff of limestone.
Within, galleries run both up and down. We found Lesser Horseshoe Bats both on
the upper and lower galleries; and in the places where we found them, there were
no Bats when we visited the place in August. The caves are, as a rule, dry,
though water drips through the rock in places, and the ground was wet below
where some were hanging. We saw altogether between two and three dozen Bats,
but except in one place they were separated and not hanging close together.
The temperature of the caves, some ten yards from the entrance, was 46° Fahr.
All the Bats were hanging so that their bodies did not touch the wall. Most of
them were not so completely wrapped up as I have seen them in the late winter
or early spring. Beneath where Bats were hanging there was a quantity of dung,
showing, I think without doubt, that the Bats had been feeding after they had
begun to occupy their winter quarters, for in August there was no dung in these
particular places. The dung smelt strongly, a thing I had not noticed before.
Most of the Bats were suspended from the roof of the tunnel, but some were
hanging from projections on the walls. None of the Bats seemed very cold, and