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THE WAYSIDE
AND WOODLAND
SERIES

ANIMAL LIFE
OF
THE BRITISH ISLES

[Pl. 1]][Frontispiece
Hedgehog preparing to attack Grass Snake.

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ANIMAL LIFE
OF THE
BRITISH ISLES

A POCKET GUIDE TO THE
MAMMALS, REPTILES AND BATRACHIANS
OF WAYSIDE AND WOODLAND

BY
EDWARD STEP, F.L.S.
AUTHOR OF
"WAYSIDE AND WOODLAND TREES"
"WAYSIDE AND WOODLAND BLOSSOMS," ETC., ETC.

WITH
111 PLATES FROM PHOTOGRAPHS
INCLUDING 48 IN COLOUR
BY W. J. STOKOE

LONDON
FREDERICK WARNE & CO. LTD.
AND NEW YORK
1921

"The lusty life of wood and underwood,

. . . . . . . .

The tawny Squirrel vaulting through the boughs,

The Deer, the high-back'd Polecat, the Wild Boar,

The burrowing Badger."

Tennyson, The Foresters.

PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN

PREFACE

It is unnecessary to say much by way of Preface to the present volume, the series of popular handbooks of which it forms part being so widely known to Nature-lovers. The same methods of treatment that were followed in the previous volumes have been pursued here, though the smaller number of species falling within its scope has allowed a fuller consideration of each.

With the exception of the birds (dealt with in Mr. Coward's companion volumes), all the terrestrial animals endowed with a bony framework are included. There are, indeed, a few other native mammals that might have been described; but as they are restricted to the sea it was felt to be undesirable to include their life-histories in the "Wayside and Woodland Series."

The Author and Publishers desire to express their thanks to the undermentioned naturalist photographers who have contributed their admirable work for reproduction, viz.: Mr. Douglas English, F.Z.S., for Plates 1, 5, 6, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 17, 20, 23, 25, 26, 27, 37 to 41, 46, 47, 48, 50, 53 to 62, 65, 66, 69, 70, 71, 75, 84, 89, 90, 93, 96, 97, 98, 101, 103, 104, 105, and the lower photograph on Plate 109. To Mr. Oxley Grabham for Plates 3, 4, 7, 8, 21, 24, 28, 30, 32, 43, 49, 52, 63, 85, 94, 95, and 107. Mr. Riley Fortune for Plates 16, 19, 33, 45, 51, 77 to 80, 82, and 88. Mr. Charles Reid for Plates 2, 34, 35, 42, 64, 73, 76, and 83. Mr. Stanley C. Johnson, B.A., for Plates 92, 99, 100, 106, 108, 110, 111, and the upper subject on Plate 109. Mr. E. W. Taylor for Plates 18, 86, and 91.

The Author's own contribution consists of Plates 9, 13, 22, 29, 31, 36, 44, 67, 68, 72, 74, and 87.

The appearance of 48 of these photographs in the natural colours is due to the skilful work of Mr. W. J. Stokoe.

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTORY

Apart from the birds and the fishes, the vertebrates or backboned animals of the British Islands constitute a very select group. Within the historical period several former notable members of that company have ceased to be represented in the freedom of nature in this country, and their forms can be studied only in museums and zoological gardens. Although we have to regret the absence from our list of the Beaver and the Wild Boar, the Ure-ox and the Short-horned Wild Ox, the Brown Bear and the savage Wolf, there are still sufficient of our vertebrates left to give a zest to the observations of the rambler in the woodlands, over the mountains and along the quiet waysides and streams of our country.

To observe these mammals, reptiles, and batrachians we must go afoot: the bicycle or the motor-car is of use only to convey us quickly out of town to appropriate localities in the open country. Arrived there, quietness must be the order of the day—the footfall light and the voice lowered in conversation if there are two or more in company. The sitter will see far more than the man who wants to perambulate the entire wood or explore the acreage of moorland. A comfortable seat having been chosen with deliberation for the view it affords of a wood margin, a hillside, or stream curve, according to the habits of the creatures we are hoping to see, the field-glass should be brought into requisition, and every inch of the field of vision carefully and repeatedly scanned. The movement of a grass-blade, the trembling of a fern frond or the rustling of a dead leaf will often indicate the precise spot to be watched. It will be understood that as most of these creatures are more or less nocturnal in their activities, observation must be continued until sometime after dusk at least, in order to be successful.

If the observer is new to this work, he should endeavour, if possible—on the first occasion at least—to get as companion a friend who has already some experience of field-work. A day with such a companion will do more to open his eyes than a whole chapter of printed hints; for it is as true to-day as it was in 1855, when Charles Kingsley wrote in his "Glaucus"—"The greatest difficulty in the way of beginners is (as in most things) to 'learn the art of learning.' They go out, search, find less than they expected, and give the subject up in disappointment. It is good to begin, therefore, if possible by playing the part of 'jackal' to some practised naturalist, who will show the tyro where to look, what to look for, and, moreover, what it is that he has found: often no easy matter to discover." On that last point the "Wayside and Woodland Series" has done much to simplify matters.

Respecting the utility of taking an interest in these fellow inhabitants of our country, one of the intellectual giants[A] of the Victorian Age described Natural History "as the greatest of all sources of that pleasure which is derivable from beauty. I do not pretend," he says, "that natural history knowledge, as such, can increase our sense of the beautiful in natural objects. I do not suppose that the dead soul of Peter Bell, of whom the great poet of nature says—

" 'A primrose by the river's brim,

A yellow primrose was to him—

And it was nothing more,'

would have been a whit roused from its apathy by the information that the primrose is a Dicotyledonous Exogen with a monopetalous corolla and central placentation. But I advocate natural history knowledge from this point of view, because it would lead us to seek the beauties of natural objects, instead of trusting to chance to force them on our attention. To a person uninstructed in natural history, his country or sea-side stroll is a walk through a gallery filled with wonderful works of art, nine-tenths of which have their faces turned to the wall. Teach him something of natural history, and you place in his hands a catalogue of those which are worth turning round. Surely our innocent pleasures are not so abundant in this life that we can afford to despise this or any other source of them. We should fear being banished for our neglect to that limbo, where the great Florentine tells us are those who during this life 'wept when they might be joyful.'"

[A] Huxley.

Some of the species described have a very limited range in our country at present, the Deer, for example, being restricted as wild animals to-day to the Scottish mountains and glens and the West Country moors, but even these may be studied as tolerably free animals in the New Forest, Epping Forest, and in many parks such as those at Windsor and Richmond, as well as in private domains. To the Deer we must add the Wild Cat, the Pine Marten, and the Alpine Hare as mammals that must be sought in special restricted areas; but most of the others may be reckoned to be met with, sooner rather than later, in our country rambles.

In view of the practice usual in natural histories of arranging the vertebrate animals in a series with the Birds separating the Mammals from the Reptiles, it may at first sight appear incongruous to bring the latter classes together as we have done; but to the present writer the fitness of this arrangement is quite clear. It is widely held that the Mammalia—the highest class of vertebrates, and therefore the most complex of all animals—have been evolved from an extinct group (Theromorpha) of Reptiles, whose remains are found in strata of the Permian and Jurassic Periods. There are, it is true, similar evidences furnished by the rocks showing that the Birds had a reptilian origin; but the Birds did not form an evolutionary stage between the Reptile and the Mammal, but evolved side by side with the latter.

The existing British Mammals represent the six orders Insectivora (shrews, mole, and hedgehog), Chiroptera (bats), Carnivora (beasts of prey), Rodentia (gnawing animals), Cetacea (whales and dolphins), and Ungulata (hoofed animals). These all agree with the Reptiles and Batrachians in having a many-jointed internal skeleton, a bony framework giving support to a system of powerful muscles; and of this framework the most important feature is the long backbone or vertebral column consisting of a number of bony rings jointed together by outgrowths or "processes," and held in position by strong ligaments. This attachment of the rings by their flat surfaces produces the spine or vertebral column, with a canal on its upper half in which lies the spinal cord. This column, for descriptive purposes, is divided into regions—cervical, dorsal, lumbar, sacral, and caudal. The number of rings or vertebræ in each region varies somewhat in the different classes and orders, but as a rule the cervical or neck vertebræ are seven; the dorsal, to which the ribs are connected, are about thirteen (extreme numbers are nine and twenty-two); the vertebræ of the lumbar or loin region are usually six or seven, but they vary inversely to those of the dorsal from two to twenty-three; the sacral vertebræ (about five) are in the adult fused together into a solid bone (sacrum) of triangular shape; the caudal vertebræ vary from three (man) to nearly fifty, according to the length of tail common to the genus or species.

In front of the neck is the skull, in the Mammals a bony case containing the brain and organs of sense, made up of plates interlocking by their zigzag margins; in the Reptiles and lower vertebrates a more or less open framework. The lower jaw, or mandible, is in adult Mammals the only part of the skull that is separate. Its hinder ends work in cavities on the lower part of the skull, and are held in position by strong ligaments and muscles.

The ribs are attached to the dorsal vertebræ, and connect by cartilage at the other end with the sternum or breastbone—really a series of united bones in the middle line of the chest (thorax). The blade-bones (scapula) of the forelimbs are attached to the upper ribs by the flat or concave side; and the hinder limbs are connected strongly to the sacrum by means of the hip-bones which are united below to form the pelvis, to which the thigh-bone is jointed. The Reptiles and Amphibians exhibit some differences in their skeletal structure which will be pointed out later.

Skeleton of the Common Badger.

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In the matter of teeth there is great diversity among the Mammals—even in the small number of British species. With a view to a proper understanding of the teeth in, say, the Rodents and the Ungulates, it is necessary to write a few words respecting tooth-structure. Although in adult Mammals the teeth are so intimately connected with the jaw as to appear outgrowths from it, this is not the case really. They originate in the skin which covers the jaw, and the most effective part of their structure—the enamel—is derived from the epidermis, the outer layer of the skin. The centre of each tooth is filled with pulp, around which is the bone-like dentine with an outer coat of hard, glossy enamel. In the incisors or cutting teeth of the Rodents, while the front of the tooth is protected by a thick plate of hard enamel, the back portion consists only of dentine which wears away whilst the enamel front maintains a chisel-like cutting edge. In the grinding teeth or molars, especially noticeable in the Ungulates, the enamel is thrown into ridges and tubercles, so that the action of these in the upper and lower jaws upon each other is like that of "the upper and the nether millstones" in grinding corn.

Four forms of teeth are recognised in the Mammals: the incisors in the front of the jaw, the pointed, round canines or "eye-teeth" next to them, and at the sides the cheek teeth, separated into premolars and molars. In describing the teeth in any species a simple formula is adopted which shows at a glance the number of each kind in one side of each jaw. Taking our own normal dental equipment as an example, it would be expressed in this fashion:—

i 2/2, c 1/1, pm 2/2, m 3/3 = 32

the upper figures representing the number of each kind in the upper jaw and the lower figures the teeth of the lower jaw, and the total being reached by multiplying by two for the two sides of the skull. Often in our rambles we may come across the skull of some animal, and an examination of the teeth will help us to the identity of its late owner.

For the purposes of the present work it is unnecessary to enter minutely into all the characters that distinguish the Mammals from the other backboned animals. One is really sufficient—the possession of glands (teats) in the skin of the female which secrete milk for the nourishment of the new-born young. There are, in addition, differences in the structure of the skull and the articulation of the lower jaw. The skin is always more or less clothed with hair. The heart has a single left aortic arch, the blood is hot, and the heart and lungs are lodged in a special cavity separated from the abdomen by a muscular partition known as the diaphragm.

Respecting one item in the foregoing—it has been said truly that the possession of a few or many true hairs as outgrowths from pits in the skin is alone sufficient to distinguish a Mammal from any other animal. Although these hairs may take different forms, they are alike in their origin—even, to take an extreme case, the spines of the Hedgehog. Each hair consists of an outer wall enclosing a central cavity filled with pith, in which is the dark pigment which gives the hair its colour. In the Mammals this pigment is always brown, and the varying tints of the hairs—black, brown, tawny, cream-colour or white—depends upon the amount of pigment and its disposition in the pith, combined with differences in the density of the envelope. In some cases, as about the mouth, eyes, and ears of the Cat, long sensitive hairs are connected with the terminations of nerves, which help the animal to feel its way. There are no marked colour differences in the fur of the sexes, such as we find in the plumage of Birds; though we do find such discrepancies in the presence or absence of horns in Deer, and in the manes and hair-tufts of some exotic Mammals. Certain species, such as the Alpine Hare and the Stoat, undergo a marked seasonal change of colour in the fur under the influence of low temperature. This may be quite sudden, owing to a rapid fall of temperature, and—as shown by Metchnikoff—is effected by the pigment granules being consumed by a sort of phagocyte. By Metchnikoff's researches an old controversy appears to have been settled finally.

ANIMAL LIFE
OF THE BRITISH ISLES.

INSECT-EATERS: MOLE, SHREWS, AND HEDGEHOG

Hedgehog (Erinaceus europæus, Linn.).

The Hedgehog, Urchin or Hedgepig is so distinct from every other British mammal, that anybody could correctly name it at sight. The development of many of its hairs into long, stiff spines gives it an individuality that is not to be confused with any other; but there are other peculiarities, such as the extreme shortness of the head and neck in comparison with the bulk of its body, and the muscular power that enables it to remain rolled into a ball with every part protected by erected spines. But for the fact that the Hedgehog is frequently introduced into houses and gardens to keep down insect pests, few town-dwellers would have had the opportunity of seeing the Hedgehog alive; for it is a nocturnal beast coming from its retreat only at dusk and hunting through the night. There are, however, exceptions to this rule when a heavy summer downpour of rain has drenched the herbage and caused the snails and slugs to show considerable activity. Then the Hedgehog wakens also, and reduces their numbers; for it is with such fare, plus insects, worms, mice, rats, frogs, lizards and snakes, that the Hedgehog maintains his portliness. He passes the day under a heap of dead leaves or moss in a spinney or thick hedgerow, and the solitary observer in such places may sometimes be guided to this retreat by his snoring!

The winter time is spent as a rule in continued sleep; though he has been known on mild nights in winter to wake up and prowl around for the very few good things then to be found. But he is no intermittent hibernator like the Squirrel and Dormouse; therefore he makes no provision by laying up winter stores, which are only possible for seed-feeders. For his winter retreat he looks out for a hole in the bank—perhaps one that has been gradually enlarged by a colony of wasps to accommodate their continually increasing nest—and this he lines with dry leaves and moss, carried in by the mouth. Then he snuggles into his bed and goes to sleep until the spring.

The Hedgehog's eyesight does not appear to be very good, but this is made up to him by a very acute sense of smell. He hunts along the hedgebottoms and the sides of ditches, and in some localities he is frequently to be seen in such situations. But we have met with signs of his presence high up on the moors where he finds dense cover among the heather and bilberry. His common diet of snails and beetles is varied by the eggs of the robin and meadow pipit, and occasionally he stumbles upon a huge store of food in the shape of a dozen or more eggs of pheasant or partridge. By depressing his spines he may even find his way between the bars of a hen-coop, but after eating a great part of the hen he may be too portly to get out, and then falls a victim to the enraged poultry-farmer. He is, of course, too short-legged to accomplish the operation formerly attributed to him—that of milking cows—unless, of course, the cow assented to the robbery and laid down to it. But no evidence has been given in support of the charge, which is of kindred nature to the aspersions of Pliny, Ælian and other of the ancients that it climbed apple and fig trees, gathering and throwing down the fruit, then throwing itself down so that its spines would impale its plunder with which it walked off. One weak point in the story is the fact that the Hedgehog has no use for such fare as apples, and as for the milk—any one inspecting the small gape of his mouth would exonerate him from the charge of getting a cow's dug into it.

[Pl. 2.]][B 10.
Hedgehog.
Erinaceus europæus.

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[Pl. 3.]][B 11.
Female Hedgehog.
With her family of young ones.

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He is said to be capable of killing and eating a wild Rabbit; but, of course, although he runs well, he could never catch a Rabbit unless the rodent were wounded. He is also a good swimmer and climber, not only of trees but of rain-pipes and rough walls, especially where these are creeper-clad. In addition to the food mentioned above he takes slugs and worms, mice, rats, lizards, frogs, and snakes—including the Viper to whose poison he is immune. It is certain that it fights with Rats, and Lord Lilford has told how it cleared a garden of them; but the Rat is sometimes the victor and eats the Hedgehog. The Hedgehog on occasion will indulge in a feast of carrion.

Only animals that are very hungry will attack the Hedgehog, and then the young are preferred if available. Gipsies, Foxes, and Badgers appear to be his principal enemies. The Fox is said to have a special and disgusting method of making the Hedgehog unroll when he is on the defensive; and a writer in The Field some years ago stated that when caught by the Badger the Hedgehog utters a pitiful wail, though he will permit himself to be torn to pieces by a terrier without a cry.

The male and female are known respectively as Boar and Sow, to carry out the idea that they are a lesser kind of pig. Though the males are very quarrelsome among themselves, they have the domestic virtue and mate for life. Some time between the end of June and the end of August, the female produces a litter of four to seven blind and helpless young, sparsely clad with pale, flexible spines, and the ears drooping. The spines gradually stiffen and become first dull grey, then brown and ringed with three bands, of which the middle one is dark and the others light. The spines are arranged in radiating groups, surrounded by coarse harsh fur. Normally, these spines lie flat upon the body, but can be erected at will. They cover the entire upper surface with the exception of the short conical head and stumpy little tail—which is shorter even than the short rounded ear. The head and underside are clothed with harsh fur of a dirty brown or dirty white colour. In Devon and Cornwall it is known as Furze-a-boar. It expresses its feelings by means of a quiet grunt; the youngsters by a squeak.

Skeleton of a Hedgehog.

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The adult male Hedgehog is about nine and a quarter inches in measurement of head and body, and the tail is a little over an inch; the female is less than the male by about three-quarters of an inch. In relation to its entire bulk—it weighs one and a half pounds—the neck and body are said to be shorter than in any other British mammal. The eyes are bright and prominent. The legs are so short that the body but little more than clears the ground in walking. Both hand and foot has five clawed toes, and five pads on the sole.

The sharply pointed spines are about three-quarters of an inch in length. They are quite hard, and have from twenty-two to twenty-four longitudinal grooves. They have a hemispherical base above which is a narrow neck sharply bent, so that the spine is almost at right angles with the base.

When attacked the Hedgehog has the skunk-like habit of emitting a highly objectionable odour in order to disgust its assailant.

We have never tried Hedgehog-meat as food, but several well-known men have testified to its excellence when cooked gipsy-fashion—in a crust of clay.

The dentition of the Hedgehog is i 3/2, c 1/1, pm 3/2, m 3/3 = 36.

With the Hedgehog we make our acquaintance with the order Insectivora, which is represented in Britain by five species only: the others being the Mole and three Shrews. In many respects they are similar to the Rodentia, but the incisor teeth have not the chisel-shape of the latter, and the molar teeth instead of having grinding crowns have them developed into pointed eminences more suited for piercing the chitinous armour of beetles, etc. The skeleton is furnished with clavicles or collar-bones. There are five toes on each of the feet, furnished with claws, and the animal walks on its soles. Our native species represent three distinct families: Erinacidæ (Hedgehog), Talpidæ (Mole), and Soricidæ (Shrews).

Mole (Talpa europæa, Linn.).

However slight may be their personal acquaintance with the Mole himself, his engineering work is only too evident to every possessor of a garden. He may, perchance, live in a neighbour's land, but from time to time we shall find some morning that he has driven a tunnel right across the lawn or the tennis-court, marring its hitherto fair surface with an ugly ridge and at intervals a little heap of raw earth. If we are sufficiently self-controlled to dissemble our inward rage, we may get some countervailing good out of the calamity. If we bring a garden chair and sit quietly within range of the newest heap, our quiet watching may be rewarded by a sight of the clever little engineer, and we may be restrained from throwing stones at him by the thought that he is seeking to reduce the number of those worm-casts on the lawn that have always annoyed us so.

If the tunnelling work is not yet completed, we shall see a heaving of the fresh heap of soil, and after a short interval the sharp, black snout of the Mole will be pushed up from the centre to sniff the air and ascertain if it is safe for him to make a fuller appearance. Satisfied that it is so, he exhibits his shoulders and the broad shovel-shaped hands with which he has accomplished all this navigator's work. Now he is right out, even to his ridiculous little tail, and so to speak swimming over the turf—for he cannot walk on his forefeet, the hands being set sideways for his shovelling work.

Why has he come up? We can only surmise that he is satiated with the luscious earthworms and beetle grubs that live under our lawn, and is looking around for some more substantial fare—a dead bird or mouse, perhaps, for he is by no means averse from picking bones for a change, though his structure makes it impossible for him to catch any of the vertebrates alive, but he can kill and eat a smaller or weaker Mole, and has been reported to attack birds, lizards, frogs, and snakes; he will not touch vegetable food. His appetite is almost insatiable, and there is little substance in his underground fare, which impels him ever to increase his sources of supply by boring fresh runs. There! your movement alarmed him, and he has dived to earth again in the soft mould of the border.

It is not only in the garden that we may see the Mole and his work. He is perhaps more active in the meadow and the cornfield, where he has a wider range for his long straight main run and the side runs that branch off from it. In either of these places he is actually much more of a nuisance than in our garden—difficult though it may be for the garden-owner to realise this. When the hay or the wheat has to be reaped the lines of hillocks across the field are an impediment to the reaping machines. So the farmer has to set traps to minimise the nuisance as much as possible. When these are of the bent hazel rod and noose variety we may find the trapped Mole swinging from the rod that has straightened itself, and can then indulge in a close inspection of his form and structure. In pasture-land the mole-hills often appear to occupy more space than the intervening surface.

The velvet-clad body is cylindrical, with the forelimbs set well forward opposite the short neck. The long muzzle is blunt-pointed and terminated by the nostrils, which are close together. His eyes are mere points that have to be searched for among the close fur, and the same applies to the ears which have no external shell. Shakespeare, who thought the Mole sightless, was aware of his acute sense of hearing—

"Pray you, tread softly, that the blind Mole may not

Hear a footfall."

The flexible snout is adapted for turning up the earth after the immense hands with their large, strong nails have loosened it. They are wide-open hands that cannot be closed and the palms always face outwards. The hairs constituting the velvety fur are all set vertically, so that they will lie forwards or backwards or to either side; and the colour appears to change according to our point of view—two persons viewing the same Mole can describe it correctly as black and as grey. It is really a dark grey.

The teeth should be examined. In the upper jaw there are six incisors of equal size—three on each side—two comparatively large canines of triangular shape and flattened from the sides, eight little premolars and six molars. In the lower jaw the dentition is somewhat puzzling, as the canines are similar to the incisors and the first premolar is developed into a suitable mate for the upper canine. These are not teeth designed for gnawing like those of the Rat and Rabbit; they are for biting insects and other small creatures, and agree in general with those of the Shrews. The formula stands thus:

i 3/3, c 1/1, p 4/4, m 3/3 = 44.

The adult Mole is a slave to his appetite, and if kept without food for only a few hours he dies of starvation. Knowing this, the old writers averred that he kept a store of bitten worms so that he might draw upon it on emergency; but this statement has never been substantiated by careful observers.

Every one is familiar with the diagrams of what was styled fancifully the Mole's Fortress, as though it were a stronghold held by force against an enemy. There is really no more reason for calling it a fortress than for applying the same term to a Rabbit's burrow or a bird's nest. The idea upon which the originators of the fortress story worked was that the molehill was a place of intricate passages where the invader could be given the slip: Le Court, the French inventor of the term, whose account was published by Antoine Cadet de Vaux in 1803, described its interior as having a central chamber surrounded by two galleries, one above, the other below, connected by five nearly equidistant passages. From the upper and smaller gallery three similar passages gave access to the central hall, at the bottom of which was a bolt-hole communicating with the main run. Plans and elevations, as an architect would describe them, were made of these details, and for a hundred years every writer on the Mole reproduced these illustrations without doubting their absolute accuracy. It was so much more easy to accept them than to patiently explore and accurately draw the actual structure. Of course, what these writers described as a fortress must not be confused with the "mole-heaves" or "tumps" thrown up at frequent intervals to get rid of the earth from a newly excavated run. These are only a few inches in height. The home of the Mole—the molehill proper—is about a foot high and about three feet broad in any direction. This, as a rule, will be found partly sheltered by a bush, sometimes well out in a pasture, and always on the line of the Mole's high-road, which lies deeper than the newer side runs he is always excavating for hunting purposes. These are but little below the surface, in the richer soil where there are more worms and grubs and where the dug-out earth is easily pushed up to the surface by the pressure of his head.

[Pl. 4.]][B 16.
Albino Hedgehog.
With pure white spine and hair; eyes, skin and nails a delicate pink.

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[Pl. 5.]][C 17.
Mole.
Talpa europæa.

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Moral writers used to commiserate the poor blind Mole for having to expend its energies in ceaseless toil in the dark underground, and then rhapsodise on its marvellous adaptation to its rôle in nature, getting lost in admiration of the mathematical skill displayed in the construction of the "fortress" they had never seen and which was largely an imaginative piece of engineering. It is true that its body may be said to fit the tunnels it has excavated, though it might be more accurate to say that the tunnels are modelled upon and by the Mole's form, for it is the constant passage of the animal backwards and forwards that smooths and consolidates their walls. The sense of sight is of less importance to it than that of smell, which is apparently its most highly-developed sense, though that of hearing is very acute.

Although the eyes are complete in the sense that eyeballs and lenses are present, they are so small and so completely surrounded by fur that it does not appear that the Mole can get any great advantage from their possession, even when he is above ground. The diameter of the eyeball is one millimetre—that is, considerably less than the head of a "short white" pin!

At the end of the last century, my friend Mr. Lionel E. Adams set himself the task of providing some more reliable information as to the life-story and habits of the Mole, and in four years of research did not hesitate in the interests of science to break in upon the digger's privacy in order to explore his so-called "fortress," and the nursery of Mrs. Mole. He was not content with cutting sections of two or three of these erections; he examined three hundred of them, finding a considerable variation in their arrangements, but not one of them was like the familiar drawings in the books of Thomas Bell and J. G. Wood, copied from French authors.

Mr. Adams experienced great difficulty in making these observations owing to the nature of the subject, but he persevered and made plans of sections from a hundred of the three hundred hills he explored, and found that no two plans were alike. Some were very simple, others exceedingly complicated, "but," he says, "in no case have I found one to tally exactly with the time-honoured figure originating from Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, elaborated by Blasius, and copied from him by every succeeding writer, apparently without the slightest attempt at verification."

But even in those cases where there is some approach to the plan of the old diagram, Mr. Adams found that it was clearly not due to any scheme for constructing a baffling system of bolt-runs for defensive purposes, but purely incidental to the work of excavating the nest cavity and getting rid of the material dug out. The easiest way to dispose of this redundant earth is to push it to the surface, and to do this a tunnel has to be made above the nest cavity. This, as a rule, is originally only from two to six inches below the surface, but the hoisting out of the surplus earth causes the formation of a solid dome of considerable thickness above it. The tunnels thus made to get rid of earth usually end in blind terminals, and would not be available for escape in the case, say, of the "fortress" being entered by a Weasel. It is notable that in the only one of Mr. Adams' plans that approaches nearly to the old figure there is no connection between the "galleries" and the nest cavity.

In some soils (like the Bunter Sandstone) Adams found that stones of four ounces are turned out—that is, equal to the average weight of an adult Mole. He also found that "the softer the soil, as a rule, the nearer are the runs to the surface."

In his work "De la Taupe," de Vaux says: "The Mole places his habitation in the most favourable spot in his cantonment; he studies everything, and never does he make a mistake except under circumstances which he has been unable to foresee, such as continuance of rains, a flood; then he makes up his mind promptly, and establishes himself elsewhere. It is by preference that he places his fortress in the foundation of a wall, under a hedge, at the foot of a tree."

[Pl. 6.]][C 18.
Mole making a new burrow.
When alarmed above ground it dives rapidly into soft earth.

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[Pl. 7.]][C 19.
In the Mole's nursery.
The young have wrinkled pink skin.

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Upon this Adams has the following comment:—

"With regard to a deliberate choice of 'the most favourable spot' after a survey of the cantonment by a practically blind animal of the Mole's impatient disposition and subterranean habits, there can be no question as to its absurdity."

The male and female (Boar and Sow) appear to associate only temporarily, the female being polyandrous and constructing her own nest-hill, which is smaller and of more simple plan than the male's winter retreat and seldom has a bolt-run. Her hunting tunnels are winding as compared with the long straight runs of the male. The nest is a ball of leaves and grass, all having to be carried in by the mouth. The chief pairing season is at the end of March and beginning of April, and the young are born about six weeks later. The number of young in a litter varies from two to seven, the average is three or four. They are blind, naked and pink, but before the fur has begun to appear the skin has darkened to a bluish slate-colour. The eyes open about the twenty-second day.

The Mole does not appear to be definitely hunted by any enemy—save man!—although killed by Weasels, Herons, Owls, Fox, and Badger when they come across him. Adams thinks that for all practical purposes the Mole may be considered blind; that if its eyes were not covered by fur the low position of its head would prevent it seeing beyond an inch or so. He is convinced that worms are hunted by scent. The Mole is an excellent swimmer, and can attain to a similar speed in the water to that of the Water Vole.

The Mole does not hibernate: the demands of his appetite appear to preclude the possibility of a long fast, even if dormant.

Old names, still extant in some districts, are Moldwarp, Moudiewarp, Wunt, Want (in the "Epinal Glossary" of about A.D. 700, spelled Wand). Its feet, carried in the pocket, are a rustic specific for rheumatism.

Though Adams refrained from eating adult Mole, warned as he tells us by the dark flesh and musky odour, he experimented with a couple of milk-fed young, ten days old, and had them boiled. Eaten without salt or other condiment, he says he "found them excellent, much like Rabbit, the flesh being white and very tender."

The Mole's position in human regard has always been equivocal. The gamekeeper has accused him of sucking partridge's eggs, and the farmer has pointed to his young wheat plants turned out of the ground as the Mole ran a surface furrow across the cornfield. Against this in former days the farmer would credit him with the wholesale destruction of earthworms; nowadays, however, the farmer has more enlightened views on the subject of earthworms, and their destruction must go into the debit side of the account. But the Mole does not live on worms alone, though chiefly: his runs must cross the track of many a grub—wireworm, leather-jacket, and fat cockchafer-grub, for examples, and slugs and snails on the surface—that the farmer would gladly have removed; and it is not likely that the Mole pushes such fare from him untasted. Then, again, one must remember the agricultural value of the little black engineer who carries out so efficient a system of surface drainage, and improves the pasture by bringing to the surface fresh soil from below. There is, however, no mercy shown, no redeeming virtue admitted, in the case of the Mole who sins against society by running his tunnels under the tennis-lawn or golf-green, and spoiling their levels by thrusting up his unsightly rubbish heaps. So enormous numbers are killed yearly; and the Mole-catcher boasts of his great annual catches. But the astute Mole-catcher refrains from destroying the nests, for were he to do so his occupation would be gone. The Mole squeaks much like a Bat or Shrew.

[Pl. 8.]][C 20.
External view of Mole's Nursery.
It is smaller and of simpler structure than the so-called "fortress."

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[Pl. 9.]][C 21.
Common Shrew.
Sorex araneus.

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The Mole appears to be plentiful in all parts of England, Wales and Scotland, wherever there are earthworms; it has been found even at an elevation of 2,700 feet. But it does not occur in Ireland, the Shetlands, Orkneys, Outer Hebrides, or the Isle of Man.

Colour variations have been recorded including cream, orange-pink, whitish with markings nearly black, orange or yellowish, as well as wholly grey, fawn or ash-coloured.

Common Shrew (Sorex araneus, Linn.).

Along the hedgebank, the ditchside and the edge of the spinney in the evening, may be seen one of the smallest and prettiest of our mammals, a minute dusky red-brown creature with long flexible pointed snout turned up ever and anon to reach an insect on the grass stems. Although he has bright bead-like eyes his range of vision is very short, and if we keep quiet and undemonstrative we can watch him without his being aware of our presence.

This is the Common Shrew or Shrew-mouse, an inoffensive and useful creature, for its food is restricted to insects, snails, woodlice and the other small fry that annoy man without the latter being able to do much in retaliation. As he sits there among the long-stalked trefoils and nodding flowers of the wood-sorrel we are able to get a good view of him.

With a combined length of head and body amounting only to three inches, his long hairy tail adds nearly half as much again—but the tail length varies a good deal in different individuals. His bilobed snout extends far beyond his mouth, and is well furnished with whiskers. His hind foot—a distinguishing feature in the Shrews—measures just over half an inch. He is clad in a coat of soft, close, silky fur whose dark upper part pales to dirty yellowish-grey beneath, and his hairy feet and tail are flesh-coloured. The dark coloration may vary to almost or entirely black. The hairs on the tail are short and stiff, almost like little spines. A gland on each flank, midway between elbow and thigh, provides the disagreeable musky odour which is its sole protection against enemies.

In winter he spends his time in hedgebottoms and copses among the dead leaves, but not in sleep as stated often. In summer he moves out into the fields and rough pastures, where there are tufts of coarse grass in which he can take cover, and from which he makes runs through the surrounding grass. Here he may be seen at times actually climbing the stout grass stems after insects; sometimes he climbs a tree. His toes are well separated, and this enables him to climb. Although the feet are not well formed for digging he can burrow expeditiously in light vegetable soil with the forefeet, and can bury himself in twelve seconds; but, as a rule, he is more inclined to utilise the common underground runs of Mice where these are available. The long, attenuated and sensitive snout, like those of the Pig and Hedgehog, are well adapted for turning over dead leaves and the surface soil in its search for insects, worms, and snails; and its short, soft, velvety fur fits it for passage through the soil without getting dirty. His movements are not nearly so rapid as those of the Mice, and it is consequently a better subject for observation. It is by no means an unusual sight to see it swimming, and in accordance with this semi-aquatic habit, it frequently makes its nest on the banks of ditches. The nursery is a cup-shaped nest woven of dry grass and other herbage with a loose roof beneath which the Shrew makes its entrances and exits. These are frequently uncovered by the mowers at haying time.

The breeding season extends from May to November, and during this period each female appears to have several litters, each consisting of from four to eight or even ten—but usually five, six, or seven—young, although she has only six nipples. Putting it at three litters of six as an average—eighteen in a season—we get an enormous possible increase of Shrew population. Yet the numbers observable from year to year are fairly constant; and in considering the high birth-rate we have to allow for the heavy bill of mortality. Though Shrew-flesh is not to the taste of all carnivorous creatures, and its musky odour makes it actually repellent to some, this does not in all cases protect the Shrew from death. Cats, for example, kill many Shrews, but will not eat one. Dogs also account for many Shrews, and will sometimes essay them as food, though their stomachs refuse to deal with the unpleasant musky morsel.

From the latter part of summer onwards dead Shrews are quite common objects of the countryside; and various theories have been set up to explain the phenomenon, for these dead bodies are mostly without any signs of maltreatment, either by tooth or claw. It has even been attributed to an autumn epidemic afflicting Shrews alone; and to the influence of fear caused by a thunder-clap or the mere breaking of a twig near by. But apart from this mysterious mortality, Owls levy a heavy toll upon the Shrew, as is evident from the indigestible "casts" thrown up by these birds. Other birds of prey, such as the Kestrel, are known to take their share, and a further considerable number are claimed by Magpies, Jackdaws, Stoats, Vipers, and Smooth Snakes. Then, again, numerous males fall victims to the jealous fury of their own sex, which leads to fierce and fatal battles. But, as already stated, there are seldom any indications of such encounters on the bodies of these autumn dead, and the only conclusion that appears tenable is that they have died from what a coroner's jury would term "natural causes."

Mr. Lionel Adams, who has made special investigations into this matter, suggests that the natural cause is senile decay. He points out that young Shrews moult before winter, the process beginning in September and being completed by November, getting a darker and thicker coat than the light brown one they have worn hitherto. The progress of the change can be watched. It begins on the lower part of the back and extends gradually to the neck, head and face. In spring this darker coat is exchanged for a shorter and lighter one. But in their second autumn there is no resumption of the winter garb! The natural span of a Shrew's life is fourteen months as the maximum; and Nature does not go to the expense of winter clothing for creatures that will not live to wear it.

So small a body as that of the Shrew does not appear to require much food to keep it going; but the character of the food counts, and apparently insects are not very sustaining. The insect-eater must pursue his prey almost incessantly. We have proofs of this in the ceaseless activity of insectivorous birds, the Mole, the Bats, and the Hedgehog—all insectivorous. Mr. Adams found that, in captivity, a Shrew would gorge for half an hour, then have to sleep for a similar period before renewing its feeding with the same energy. In this case the food was all provided and had not to be chased; and the Shrew was willing to eat the flesh and pick the bones of one of its own kind. In thirty-six hours it consumed food of various kinds equal to nearly four times its own weight. If food is not obtainable for a few hours, the Shrew dies. This excessive demand of the stomach causes the Shrew to be active both night and day. It is fond of carrion, and has frequently fallen a victim to traps baited with bread, cheese, nuts or apple; and, as Mr. Pocock reports, with plum-pudding. He sleeps with the long flexible snout tucked between the forelegs under the chest.

The Shrew's dental formula is i 4/2, c 1/0, p 2/1, m 3/3 = 32. The summits of the teeth are red-brown, and the almost horizontal lower incisors are encircled by those of the upper jaw.

The Common Shrew is found throughout Great Britain but not in Ireland. Its vertical range is from sea-level certainly to 1500 feet, at which height it has been found in Cheshire by Coward and Oldham. It probably goes higher in our mountain regions, for on the Continent it has been recorded at 6000 feet. It is active all the winter among the dead leaves in some thick hedgerow, where it searches for hibernating insects which are plentiful in such covers. The rambler at this season may have his attention called to the Shrew by its shrill squeak, but like that of the Bats it does not impress all ears.

A form found in the Isle of Islay has been separated as a distinct species under the name of Sorex granti.

It is strange that so inoffensive a creature should have been the subject of superstitious malignity in the past. It was reputed to cause lameness by merely running over the foot of man or beast, and as an antidote a Shrew was plugged into a hole bored in an ash tree from which thereafter a twig passed over the afflicted part would effect a cure. Readers of Gilbert White will remember his description of the Shrew-ash that formerly stood "at the south corner of the plestor" at Selborne. The evil reputation of the Shrew was much more ancient than White's day, for the Rev. Edward Topsell, who wrote a "Historie of Four-footed Beastes" (1607), says of it—"It is a ravening beast, feigning itself gentle and tame, but, being touched, it biteth deep and poysoneth deadly. It beareth a cruel minde, desiring to hurt anything, neither is there any creature that it loveth, or it loveth him, because it is feared of all."

Lesser Shrew (Sorex minutus, Linn.).

The Lesser or Pigmy Shrew is the smallest of all British mammals. It may be described roughly as a smaller edition of the Common Shrew, and until recent years was considered to be only the juvenile form of that species, for which, no doubt, it is still mistaken frequently. It appears to be widely distributed in Britain, but is local, the areas in which it occurs being limited and patchy when marked on the map. These are mostly in wooded districts, but extend from sea-level to the tops of our highest mountains, for it has been found on Ben Nevis at a height of 4,400 feet. In Ireland, from which the Common Shrew is entirely absent, its place is taken by the Lesser Shrew, though it is not nearly so abundant as the Common Shrew is in Britain.

Seen side by side these two species are sufficiently distinct, but apart they may be taken as identical. The earlier British naturalists had not learned to discriminate one from the other, and even Bell, as late as 1837, does not mention the Lesser Shrew, though in the second edition of his work (1874) it appears in a description by Alston. If we take average length of head and body in an adult Common Shrew as three inches, we shall find that a similar individual of the Lesser Shrew measures only two inches and a quarter—a reduction of 25 per cent. The hind foot without the claws in the Common Shrew is half an inch, but in the Lesser Shrew it is one-sixth less. The actual length of the tail is about the same in both species, but proportionately there is a difference, for whilst that of the Common Shrew only equals half the length of head and body, in the Lesser Shrew it is equal to two-thirds. But it has been held that the length of the hind feet alone is distinctive, and that "any Shrew in which these reach or exceed 12 millimetres may be set down as of the larger species."

The colour of the fur is the brown and white of the common species with a fairly sharp line of demarcation between them. Though the animal as a whole is more delicately built, the snout is relatively longer and thicker; the tail also thicker and more hairy; the forearm and hand are shorter. The sensitive snout appears to be more useful than its eyes in hunting. As the result of his experiments, Adams is of opinion that the sight of Shrews is not much—if at all—better than that of the Mole. Yet it must hunt incessantly for, owing to its rapid digestion, frequent meals are a necessity. It is so delicately organised that it has been found that detention in a trap for only a few minutes is fatal to it; and captured specimens that have been carried in the hand for a few hundred yards have died shortly after.

It is an excellent climber, and sometimes enters the upper windows of houses. It is more nocturnal in its habits than the Common Shrew; but is subject to the same autumnal mortality. It does not appear to construct burrows, but utilises those of Mice. Its nests have been found in various situations, such as a clump of rushes, a hollow tree stump or a hollow in the ground roofed by a stone; and they have been of different materials according with the local conditions, moss, dry grass, fine rush shreds and wood chips variously combined and interwoven to form a hollow ball.

There are probably two litters of from two to eight young, born between May and September.

Water Shrew (Neomys fodiens, Schreber).

The Water Shrew is our largest species, the length of head and body combined varying from three to three and three-quarter inches, the body of bulkier build than that of the Common Shrew, and the tail longer than the body. Its upper parts are dark-coloured—from slaty black to dark brown—and the light ashy grey or dirty white of the under parts appear pure white by contrast. The snout is shorter and broader than that of the Common Shrew; the small eyes are blue, and the ears, which are entirely concealed, bear a tuft of white hairs. The brown feet are broader and the digits are bordered with stiff hairs which make them more efficient as paddles; and the tapering flattened tail of the adult has a double fringe of strong silver-grey hairs along its underside, constituting a "keel" and making it more efficient as a rudder. The hind foot usually exceeds three-quarters of an inch. The fur is finer and thicker than in the other British Shrews; and the upper and lower colour areas are sharply separated one from the other. Its aquatic habits have in some districts caused it to be known as Otter-Shrew. The tail is brown above and lighter below. Variation to full black is frequent, and albinos have been recorded.

The teeth have coloured tips like those of the other Shrews, but the points of the incisors are more hooked than in the two species of Sorex; moreover, there are two teeth less, the dental formula standing thus:—i 3/1, c 1/1, p 2/1, m 3/3 = 30. It is these differences in the teeth that has led to the Water Shrew being placed in a separate genus.

Skeleton of Water Shrew.

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In wandering quietly along the streamside we may perchance see the Water Shrew sunning itself on a mossy stone by the margin of the water, for it is active by day as well as by night. We may see it make a sudden plunge into the stream, and present a beautiful appearance under water, for the fur carries a good deal of air entangled in it which gives the submerged body a silvery appearance. It chases the whirligig beetles and water-gnats on the surface, or routs at the bottom for caddisworms and other larvæ. Its haunts may often be detected by the little heaps of caddis cases on the bank, which it has brought ashore and emptied of their living contents. It eats other aquatic animals, such as snails, worms, small crustaceans, frogs, and small fishes; is not averse from a little carrion, and has been caught in a trap that was baited with cheese. It utters a cricket-like chirp not unlike that of the other Shrews.

[Pl. 10.]][C 28.
Water Shrew.
Neomys fodiens.

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[Pl. 11.]][C 29.
Common Shrew.
Female beginning to prepare her nursery nest.

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As he seldom goes more than a couple of yards from the bank, the quiet observer may take full stock of his proceedings, for the limited range of his vision does not permit him to see you. He appears to be very buoyant in the water, swimming with his head slightly above the surface and the body spread out. Though he may walk for a time along the bottom, he never gets his fur wet. At times he makes distinct leaps out of the water, apparently after a flying insect.

His home is a burrow in the bank, and far inside the female lines a chamber with moss and fine roots, or weaves a round nest of grass and leaves where in May or June she brings forth her litter of five to eight minute blind and naked young. These develop rapidly and when they are five or six weeks old they are independent. There is probably a second brood in September. Like the other Shrews the males are great fighters.

He is found sometimes at a considerable distance from the water, apparently seeking a change of diet, or migrating to a more abundant food supply. It does not hibernate, and may be seen in winter pursuing its prey beneath the ice. Its chief enemy is the Owl, whose cast-up pellets frequently contain the skulls of Shrews.

The Water Shrew is much more local in its occurrence than are the other Shrews. With this reservation it may be said to be widely distributed throughout England, Wales, and Scotland; and in Staffordshire and Cheshire has been found at elevations of a thousand feet. It is not found either in Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Outer Hebrides, the Orkneys or Shetlands. In the Fen country it is known as the Blind-mouse.

FLYING MAMMALS: BATS

Bats (Chiroptera).

With the exception of the great class of Birds, the Bats are the only surviving backboned animals that possess the organs of true flight. Apart from this specialisation for a life in the air the Bats are very similar in their organisation to the Insectivora, and long ago Huxley pointed out that they were exceedingly modified Insectivora; but this modification marks them off sharply from their nearest allies, and the authorities have agreed that it constitutes a reason for setting them apart in a special order—the Chiroptera or wing-handed animals.

So complete has been the adaptation to an aerial life, involving both pairs of limbs, that they are no longer fitted for progression on the earth. The fingers of the hand have been so drawn out that they are longer than the forearm, and the middle finger is at least equal in length to the head and body, whilst the thumb has been converted into a hook by means of which the Bat can hang from any rough surface. Over these exaggerated finger-bones a broad web of skin has been stretched, and connected not only to the sides of the body but also to the hind legs as far as the ankle, and then nearly or quite to the tip of the slender tail. The effect of this great modification, whilst it creates a pair of great wings, is to render the hind limbs unfitted for ordinary locomotion, for these are so twisted out of the position assumed in quadrupeds that the knees are turned backwards. This is the cause of the awkward, shuffling movements of a Bat on the ground which make it quickly rise into the air or at least to climb some vertical surface.

Looking at the skeleton of a Bat, we shall find the vertebral column short, the neck short-boned but broad, the spinal cord being of great thickness at this part though reduced to a mere thread at the hips. The ribs are usually flattened and connected to a strong breastbone, which has a prominent keel for the attachment of powerful muscles controlling the wings. The tail controls the web connecting the hind legs, which acts as a rudder in flight and as a net helping to capture and retain the larger insects upon which the Bat lives.

[Pl. 12.]][C 30.
Lesser or Pigmy Shrew.
Sorex minutus.

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[Pl. 13.]][C 31.
Great Bat or Noctule.
Nyctalus noctula.

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The permanent teeth—which are quite different from the milk-teeth—vary in the different species, but they always have distinct roots, and in the British species the upper surface always runs into points or cusps, suited for cracking the chitinous shells of beetles.

The Bat's brain is considered to be of a low order; yet its senses are very acute. Spallanzani, in the latter part of the 18th century made a number of experiments on Bats, depriving them of sight, smell, and hearing, and observing their behaviour under such conditions. He found that when released in a room across which he had stretched numerous threads to block their flight, they in every case avoided these, even when directly in their course. They appear to be helped in this matter by the sensitive whiskers around the muzzle, as well as by the delicate membranes constituting the wings and the outer ears. In the Horse-shoe Bats there is also a great development of the appendages to the nose, known as the nose-leaf, which act as delicate organs of special perception.

Skeleton of Bat (Vespertilio).

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In most of the genera there is considerable development of the ear as compared with other mammals. The little lobe that guards the entrance to the ear in the human subject, and is known as the tragus, is much elongated in the Bats so that it becomes a conspicuous feature, and its variation affords one of the characters for identification of the species. Our two Horse-shoe Bats alone are without any prominent tragus.

It is considered that the Bat's powers of flight are superior even to those of the birds. This is especially evident if we watch the rapidity with which it can change its speed, suddenly stopping when in full flight, then making sudden swoops and turning somersaults in a way that would evoke the admiration of the stunt-loving airman. The females as a rule have larger wings and heavier bodies than the males.

Perhaps to the majority of people the Bat appears to be a creature without a voice. It does, however, utter a shrill squeak which is so highly pitched that many human ears are incapable of perceiving it. On the other hand, the Bat has similar deficiencies; and it has been proved that low notes, however loud, make no impression on the Bat, though a sharp clicking sound or the tearing of paper will alarm him at once.

Our Bats are all nocturnal in their habits, though a few indulge in occasional flights by day. Most of them have definite hours for flight, the time depending upon the flight period of the insects they prey upon particularly. They retire for the day into dark situations, such as hollow trees, caves, outhouses, or under roofs. In these sleeping places great numbers often congregate, and several species may be represented. During bad weather—when, of course, their insect prey also remains under cover—they do not leave their daytime shelter. When asleep their body temperature falls considerably. In harmony with this nocturnal habit we find that our Bats are usually dull coloured—some tint of brown with the underside lighter than the upper.

All the British species hibernate, and before the beginning of this period they develop a good deal of fat to carry them through it. On any day in the winter when there is any considerable rise of temperature they wake at once and look around for insects that have been aroused by the same means. The larger kinds usually eat their food as they fly, but the smaller Bats rest for a few moments for this purpose. The web between the legs and tail ("interfemoral pouch") is mostly used to hold their prey whilst it is being eaten. It also serves to receive the newly born young.

[Pl. 14.]][C 32.
Greater Horse-shoe Bat (Rhinolophus ferrum-equinum).
Asleep in cave.

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[Pl. 15.]]
Greater Horse-shoe Bat.
Head enlarged, to show remarkable nose-leaf.

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[Pl. 16.]]
Whiskered Bat.
Myotis mystacinus.

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[Pl. 17.]][D 33.
Lesser Horse-shoe Bat.
Rhinolophus hipposideros.

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The young Bat is born blind, but not quite naked. It at once clings to its mother's fur by means of its claws, and by its teeth to her nipple. Nursing mothers appear to form colonies apart from the others. The growth of the young Bat is rapid and it is soon fully covered with fur. Before it is a fortnight old it is able to leave its mother temporarily, but it does not lead an independent life until it is about two months old. Nothing certain is known about the age to which a Bat attains, but it appears to be about four years.

Until the present century there was an astonishing lack of knowledge of the life-histories of our native species; but a small but enthusiastic band of observers have in recent years done much to make good the deficiency. In this connection the work of Messrs. Alcock, Coward, Moffat, Oldham, Tomes and Whitaker calls for acknowledgment. They have hunted far and wide, exploring the sleeping places and hibernacula, in woods, caves, roofs and belfries, and have established—among other facts—that our Bats are more numerous in the south, becoming scarcer as we go west, and that there are few species represented in the fauna of Scotland. Most of the species appear to be common in some one or more localities, even if rare elsewhere; and the physical features of a district have a striking influence on their local abundance or scarcity, certain species being more discriminative in this respect than others. The presence of woods, water, and caves appears to be the most favourable condition governing their comparative plentifulness or scarcity.

The Bats were known generically in Anglo-Saxon times as Flittermouse and Reremouse, and these names may be met with still in certain localities; but to the general public the Bat is still a Bat without distinction of species. Although there are twelve distinct kinds that breed in the British Isles, for each of which the naturalist has had to invent an English as well as an international name, not one of these has got into ordinary use; so that it is impossible to get any precise information from those whose occupation gives them opportunities for observation.

Larger Horse-shoe Bat (Rhinolophus ferrum-equinum, Schreber).

We have two Horse-shoe Bats, distinguished as Larger and Lesser, and they are regarded as the lowest organised of our Bats. Their distinguishing feature as a genus is the absence of the tragus from the ear, and the presence of a leaf-like outgrowth of naked skin on the muzzle around the nostrils. The broad forepart of this forms the horse-shoe, a protruding central portion behind the nostrils is known as the sella, and behind it an erect tapering portion is the lancet. There can be little doubt that this extraordinary expansion is no mere ornament, but a sense organ which enables these Bats to execute their marvellous flight through narrow passages. They are able even to distinguish invisible obstacles like glass, and they fly low down among bushes and herbage where they are far more likely to collide than in the upper air. In these respects their motions are different from those of the other Bats.

The Larger Horse-shoe Bat is a large and rather heavily built Bat whose proportions are only slightly exceeded by the Noctule (page 46), our largest species. The combined length of head and body is about two and a half inches, and of the tail an inch and a quarter. The forearm is two inches or more, and the expansion of the wings covers more than thirteen inches. The large ears are about half an inch broad, narrowing abruptly to the sharp recurved tip; when laid forward over the face they reach slightly beyond the tip of the muzzle. The lower portion of the broad wing membrane is attached to the ankle and the tail almost to the tip of the latter. The colour of the fur above is reddish-grey; on the underside pale grey. Its cry is a sparrow-like chirp.

[Pl. 18.]][D 34.
Whiskered Bat.
Asleep on roof timbers.

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[Pl. 19.]][D 35.
Red-grey Bat.
Myotis nattereri.

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The mouth has a straight broad opening below the swollen muzzle with its stiff moustache. The large canine teeth are very conspicuous in contrast with the small incisors. The dental formula for this and the next species is: i 1/2, c 1/1, p 2/3, m 3/3 = 32.

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.

[Pl. 20.]][D 36.
Red-grey Bat.
Emerging from retreat in hollow tree.

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[Pl. 21.]][D 37.
Daubenton's Bat.
Myotis daubentonii.

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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.

[Pl. 22.]][D 38.
Daubenton's Bat.
Typical alder-sheltered resort of this species.

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[Pl. 23.]][D 39.
Common Bat.
Vespertilio pipistrellus.

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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.