66 Allen Notes on Bahama Bats. 



cases we were informed that certain caves had been inhabited 

 by bats for a great many years, indicating that they appreciate 

 such places as are suited to their needs. On the island of New 

 Providence, however, we made a journey into the interior to 

 examine some caves on the large estate of Mr. Gladstone, Pri 

 vate Secretary of the Governor. This gentleman assured us 

 that in March these caves were inhabited by numerous bats, and 

 that he had visited them at that time with a party. But when 

 we arrived, some four months later, not a bat could we find after 

 careful search among the narrow passages leading back into the 

 hill. Apparently no bats had been in the cave for some time, 

 and we wondered if possibly it were inhabited at certain seasons 

 only, by species that had migrated thither from elsewhere. 



Six species of bats were collected by the members of our party . 

 Although none of these are new, yet it is believed that the 

 notes on their habits and distribution here offered may prove 

 of value. 



The bat fauna of the Bahamas is made up of elements some 

 what similar in character to those composing the avifauna. 

 Thus, the brown bat (Vespertilio fuscus bahamensis) is a repre 

 sentative of a North American species of wide distribution on 

 the continent. The red bat (Lasiurus borealis seminolus) is also 

 a representative of a wide-ranging North American species. On 

 .the other hand, there are species representing genera whose dis 

 tribution is mainly the West Indies and the tropical and sub 

 tropical portions of the mainland. Such are the house bat (Nyc- 

 tinomus bahamensis), the big-eared bat (Otopterus waterhousii 

 compressus) , and the straw-colored bat ( Chilonatalus tumidifrons) . 

 A fourth species belonging to this second class is Glossophaga 

 soricina antillarum, a skull of which has been recorded by Mr. 

 J. A. G. Rehn from the Bahamas. A third class is represented 

 by Phyllonycteris plamfrons, which belongs' to a genus appa 

 rently confined to the. West Indies. 



I wish to express my thanks to the authorities of the United 

 States National Museum for the loan of specimens for compari 

 son. All the bats collected by our expedition have been pre 

 sented to the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Cambridge, 

 Mass. 



Following is a list of the six species obtained by our party, 

 with notes : 



