150 BULLETIN 43, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



plate a sharper border, wliicli extencLs slightly along the lip; the 

 tongue and the terminal caudal vertebra are also somewhat lorger. 

 It is probal)ly true that these characters are tactile in significance and 

 relate to the delivery and care of the young. From the marked flex- 

 ibility of the tail the interfemoral membrane is brought well to the 

 front. The head can with ease be depressed into the pocket in this 

 way formed, and the mother can easily guide the young with her mobile 

 lips to the mammary glands. While this conclusion is of the nature 

 of a surmise, it is made tenable by the structure of the parts involved 

 in the act. 



The prepuce is thick, cauliflower-like. 



The females are more often preserved in the museums than the males; 

 whether this is due to the greater abundance of females or for some 

 peculiarities which render their capture more easy, is imj)0ssible to say. 



The mammary glands are rudimental in the female between periods 

 of sexual activity. The mammary region is covered with fur of the 

 same character as seen elsewhere on the front of the thorax. Neither 

 in a female, whicli possessed embryos two lines in length, is there 

 any external development. If such a specimen be dissected the local- 

 ity of a mere trace of the gland can be detected by the position of a 

 small circular spot of dark skin, which retains a central white j)oint. 

 No mammary structure will be visible. The lactating female, however, 

 possesses large mammte ; one of these lies on the border of the axilla 

 and a second over the pectoral musijle. 



The testicles are black. The prepuce is thick and cauliflower-like. 



Habitat. — The red bat has an extensive range, even assuming that 

 the species of the tropical and neotropical regions are distinct. Ac- 

 cording to J. B. Tyrrell (Cat. of Mam. of Canada, Toronto, 1888) it is 

 found throughout Canada, from the Atlantic to the Pacific coasts. In 

 the United States it appears to be more common in the valley of the 

 Mississippi and in the Atlantic slope than on the western jilateau. Ac- 

 cording to C. Hart Merriam (/. c.) it is rare in the Adirondack Moun- 

 tains. To the west of the Sierras it is not common. But two si)eci- 

 mens were sent me from the local collection of the California Academy 

 of Science. In the Museum of the Smithsonian Institution in 1805 

 there was but a single specimen from this region. This was secured 

 at Fort Tejon. 



C. F. Maynard, in his paper entitled " Mammalia of Florida" {I. c), 

 says that this species is common in the more northern sections of the 

 State, frequenting the woods. During the day the bats are seen cling- 

 ing head downward from the leaves of trees. The animal has been 

 captured in the eastern United States while hanging in the manner 

 described. These observations harmonize with the rudimental meta- 

 carpo-phalangeal callosity of the first digit and the great length of the 

 third digit, which can not in repose be dorsiflexed at the phalanges. 

 Nevertheless specimens have been obtained from a cave near Albany, 



