NOTES ON THE BATS COLLECTED BY WTLLIAiM PALMER 



IN CUBA. 



By Gerrtt S. Miij.ku, Jr., 



Assistant Curator, Dirisioti nf MavDiials. 



Two important collections of Cuban bats have recentlj-^ been made 

 by Mr. "William Palmer, of the United States National Museum. The 

 first, numbering- -1:49 specimens, was brought together during Fel)ru- 

 ary, March, April, May, June, and July, 1900, in the region south 

 and west of Habana, and on the Isle of Pines." During this exj^edi- 

 tion Mr. Palmer was accompanied by Mr. J. H. Riley. The second 

 collection, 184 specimens, was made in Februar}^, 1902, at the extreme 

 eastern end of Cuba.^ Fifteen species were obtained in all, several of 

 which prove to be of unusual interest. In the following account of 

 this material the field observations made by Mr. Palmer are given in 

 full, each note signed with its author's name. 



VESPERTILIO CUBENSIS (Gray). 



1839. Sc.otojjhilus cnbemis Gray, Ann. Nat. Hist., IV, ji. 7, September, 1839; 



Cuba. 

 1892. Vesperugo fusais cubensis Chapman, Bull. Amer. Muh. Nat. Hist., IV, p. 



316, December 29, 1892. 

 1897. Yei^pertiUo fuscus cubensis Miller, North American Fauna, no. 13, p. 102, 



October 16, 1897. 



A skin from Pinar del Rio and a specimen in alcohol, and one skin 

 each from El Guama and El Cobre. The three skins show that the 

 color of the Cuban animal is practically identical with that of the large 

 Mexican Vespertilio mlradorensis. It is therefore nmch darker than 

 in V. fuscus. For measurement see table, page 33S. 



Field notes. — One of the few species seen flying at dusk. Besides 

 the five specimens taken, three or four others were seen. One was 

 captured in a net set at the eaves of a tile roof. Others were seen 

 about tobacco houses and palm trees. One was netted in the center of 

 a natural rock tunnel, which was the home of a l)arn owl, a bird that 

 fed largely on bats. — W. Palmer. 



«The localities at which bats were taken are as follows: Cabanas, El (iuania, 

 Guanajay, Mariel, Pinar del Kio, and San Diego de los Baiios on the mainland, and 

 Nueva Gerona on the Isle of Pines. 



^ Exact localities, Baracoa and El Col)re. 



Proceedings U. S. National Museum, Vol. XXVII— No. 1359. 



337 



