208 BULLETIN OF THE 



period of gestation of the bats. From Mr. J. G. Shute, of Woburn, I 

 learn a fact in reference to this point observed by him some few years 

 since. Soon after sunset one evening in October he observed a strange 

 object pass hiin in the air, which seemed to fall to the ground not far 

 from where he was standing. Repairing immediately to the spot he 

 soon found it, which proved to be a pair of these bats in coitu. They 

 were captured and thrown into alcohol, and thus forwarded to the 

 Museum of Comparative Zoology. About the 20th of June I once found, 

 in Northern Illinois, a number of the Scotophilia* georgianus containing 

 quite advanced foetuses, usually four or five in number. Dr. C. C. Ab- 

 bott says that the V. subulatus brings forth its litter of three to five young 

 late in June.* 



38. Lasiurus cinereus II. Allen. ( Vespertilio pruinosus Say.) 

 HOARY Bat. Not common. Probably the rarest species of the fam- 

 ily found in the State. Though commonly given in New England 

 lists, I have never seen it from Massachusetts. I have been able to 

 find but two specimens in the Museum collection referable to it, and 

 those arc, unfortunately, without localities. I have often seen in local 

 collections specimens labelled with this name, but they were only the 

 more hoary form of the common L. noveboracensis. From Dr. Allen's 

 list of specimens its range seems to be nearly that of the preceding, — 

 throughout temperate North America at least, — as some of them are 

 stated to have been received from Neva Scotia, Red River Settlement, 

 Louisiana, Matamoras, New Mexico, California, &c. As already ob- 

 served, I question the validity of this species. 



39. Scotophilia fuscus II. Allen. {Vespertilio fuscus Pal. de 

 Bouv.; V. carolinensis Geoff. St. Hil.) Carolina Bat. Common. 



I not only consider the suspicion of Dr. Allen that S. carolinensis and 

 S. fuscus "may prove to be the same" well founded, but to his list of 

 synonymes of this species would add Eptisecus melanops of Kafinesque. 

 I woidd remove from it the V. gryphus of F. Cuvier, which I consider 

 refers to the V. subulatus Say. 



40. Scotophilia georgianus II. Allen. Less common than 

 several of the other species, but apparently not excessively rare. 

 There are several specimens in the Museum of Comparative Zoology 



* Geology of New Jersey, Appendix, p. 752. 



