VAMPIRE BAT— DITMARS AND GREENHALL 285 



to come down and feed while observers stood quietly in the room. 

 Notes made by Professor Urich during the studies by himself and 

 his field assistant appeared in the monthly reports of the Board of 

 Agriculture of Trinidad and Tobago. From these, Professor Urich 

 granted permission to quote as follows : 



May report. (Observation on May 19, 1934.) When I got there at 9:40 

 p. m., found the bat feeding on the left foot of the cock, about 1 inch below 

 the spur. The bat does not suck the blood, but laps it. Bat fed for 12 minutes 

 from the time I arrived, the cock standing absolutely still. Then the cock started 

 to walk, the bat following along the ground, and fed again. The cock be- 

 came restless and walked away. Then it went into a corner of the cage, on 

 the ground. [Observation by Wehekind.] 



June report. (Observation on June 27, 1934). Bat started feeding at 8:30 

 p. m. and finished at 8 : 40 p. m., being so gorged that he could scarely fly. 

 Bat dropped straight on goat and started to feed. No hovering. [Observation 

 by Wehekind.] 



In a later report. 



As the Desmodus fed readily in captivity on fowls or goats, Mr. Wehekind 

 was able to ascertain the method of feeding of these bats on fowls. It is quite 

 different as stated in some records, the principal features of which are that the 

 bat does not hover around its victims, does not suck blood, and does a fair 

 amount of walking around on the victim to secure a suitable place for feeding. 

 This is carried out by making a narrow groove in the place selected and lapping 

 up the blood as it exudes from the wound. The bat always returns to an old 

 wound on the same animal on its daily feeding. All these observations were 

 verified by me (F. W. Urich) on several occasions. 



The junior author of the present review adds the following notes 

 from observations made in the screened house where the bats were 

 quartered : 



On Friday, August 3, 1934, at 6 p. m., Prof. F. W. Urich and myself went 

 to the Government stock farm to see the condition of the captive vampire 

 bats. One male vampire has been under Professor Urich's observation since 

 May 18. It is known as "Tommy." When we caught seven additional vam- 

 pires. Tommy was placed in a cage by himself, as it was known that he was 

 free from paralytic rabies. Professor Urich then attempted to feed Tommy 

 with defibrinated blood. The bat was used to feeding upon goats and fowls 

 that were introduced into the cage and evidently did not relish the diet of 

 prepared blood in a small dish. It seems to have taken a small quantity, but 

 we thought it best to release it with the others after the necessary quarantine. 



At the time we entered the bat cage we found that a goat had been placed 

 inside for the other vampires to feed on. The goat had been freshly bitten, 

 as I noted three open wounds, two on the left side of the neck and one on the 

 right, from which blood was oozing. 



The goat was calm, standing in one corner and no bats were feeding when 

 we entered. Tommy was released from his quarantine quarters, flew and 

 attached himself by the hind foot on the screening of the house, about a foot 

 and a half from the sill. The goat was standing not far away from the vam- 

 pire. The bat remained hanging for about 5 minutes, the thumbs bracing 

 the body, the wings folded close to the arras. After a short interval, the bat 



