THE BATS OF EPPING FOREST. 137
4. Vespertilio Daubentonii. Daubenton's Bat.
Daubenton's Bat is another apparent rarity, but this is rather
owing to our not being acquainted with its manners and customs.
It feeds on those flies which everybody must have observed wander-
ing over ponds and rivers at eventide ; and as these little creatures
have indulged this taste from time immemorial for some purpose of
love-making or egg-laying, or eating or drinking, and never seem to
cease from motion, so these bats restrict their predatory excursions
to the surface of the water, almost touching it with their wings, and
often quite touching it with their mouths. In flying over water this
bat passes so very, very near the surface, that it could not fail to wet
its wings were it not for the peculiarity of its flight. In this it seems
to imitate one of the heavy-bodied, slow-flying hawk moths. The
vibrations of its wings are very fast, but the progress made is very
slow : it seems to pass over the water in curves, rather by a feeble
silent buzzing than by vigorous flight. Notwithstanding this turn
for aquatic life, Daubenton's Bat has been known to roost at a con-
siderable elevation, having been found in the tower of the church at
Stratford-on-Avon ; but at Epping it seems to confine its excursions
to the little ponds in the Forest.
5. Vespertilio Mystacinus. The Whiskered Bat.
The Whiskered Bat is very rare, and, as far as I know, only two
specimens have been taken at Epping ; both of them, like our aged
paupers, were found taking refuge in the union workhouse. This
bat seems to lead a secluded and somewhat ascetic life, never or
very rarely being found in company with others of its kind. It hunts
its prey under the lee of a hedge-row, and very rarely flies so high as
the top of a tree.
6. Plecotus Auritus. The Long-eared Bat.
The Long-eared Bat is remarkable, not merely among bats, but
among all animals, for the exquisite beauty and great size of its
semi-transparent ears, which are as long as its body, and broad in
proportion to their length. Just think of a cat having such ears, or
a cow, or a pig ! And yet such is the symmetry and elegance of this
little bat, that no one notices its ears as a defect, or as detracting one
iota from the beauty of its appearance.
This little bat is exceedingly common, and most easily tamed.
It sleeps by day in human habitations, preferring old and dilapidated
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