34 THE MAMMALS, REPTILES, AND FISHES OF ESSEX.
mistake in the identification of the specimens. The latter
specimen, a male, he found to measure, in expanse
of wing, fully fourteen inches. The earlier one, being
badly stuffed and much shrunken, he was unable to
measure.
Vesperugo noctula, Keys and Blas. Noctule or
Great Bat.
This occurs commonly at Colchester, as I believe it does
throughout the county. It is also one of those noted by
Doubleday (Zool., 1843, p. 6) as occurring around Epping.
Bell says (Brit. Quad., ed. 1874, p. 19) that it has a shorter
period of activity than most of the order ; but how this mis-
conception arose I cannot understand, since it may be seen on
the wing from March to November. The latest period at
which I have obtained a specimen is the 10th of November,
but I have observed it even later than this during a favourable
season.
This bat, the largest of the British Chiroptera, is, in
colouring, the most beautiful of the order. Its rich brown fur,
smoother and finer than velvet, contrasts strikingly with its
black wings. Although it is rare for bats to vary much in colour,
I once took a Noctule that was almost black. Like the rest of
the family, it is of a quarrelsome disposition ; and, when irri-
tated, its aspect betokens ferocity and savagery in a high
degree.
The Great Bat well merits Gilbert White's name altivolans,
as its flight is rapid and high, like that of the Swift. All
through October, it may be noticed flying over Colchester and
throughout the valley of the Colne, sometimes at a great
height: at other times, it flies much below the tops of the
houses in the streets.
Although trees are preferred by it as hybernacula, I know
a few haunts where it may generally be found resting between