286 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1936 



showed signs of movement. The head nodded; the lips were drawn back, ex- 

 posing the large canines and protruding incisor teeth. The bat's gaze finally 

 rested upon the goat. I was watching approximately 4 feet away from the 

 bat and the goat was nearer to me. Slowly the bat moved down the screen, a 

 deliberate stalk. The fore and hind feet were lifted high from the wiring and 

 the body was well above the mesh. The bat stalked down and I noticed that 

 the movement of the forearm in the stride was exceptionally slow, the wings 

 folded tightly. From 2 to 3 minutes were required to traverse the distance 

 from the original position to the sill. Upon arriving at the edge of the sill, 

 the vampire hung from its hind feet and dangled over the edge into space. 

 There, it remained for about 2 more minutes. The goat was still standing in 

 the same position. Suddenly and silently the vampire launched itself into the 

 air and lightly landed on the middle portion of the goat's back. There was still 

 no movement on the part of the goat. I moved quietly forward until I was 

 but 2 feet from the goat. Tommy stalked to the shoulder and neck regions 

 of the animal. After a minute or so of searching, the bat buried its head close 

 to the skin of the goat. There were a few up and down motions of the bat's 

 head.^ The goat then took a few steps forward and turned its head to the 

 right and left. The bat drew itself up but continued the nodding motions. The 

 goat walked around the room rather rapidly, the vampire hanging on and thus 

 riding its host. The goat passed by me, then stopped, and I noticed that blood 

 was exuding from a small wound and the bat was lapping it with a rapid 

 darting of the tongue. The goat started to walk again and passed under a 

 sort of table, a board of which brushed heavily against the animal's back. The 

 goat was, in fact, obliged to slightly lower itself to pass under. The vampire 

 quickly scuttled down the shoulder of the goat to avoid being brushed off. 

 When the goat cleared the table the bat as quickly returned to the wound 

 and continued lapping. We then forced the goat to go back under the table 

 several times, the bat dextrously avoiding being hit by dodging down the 

 shoulder. The movement was very agile and reminded me somewhat of the 

 behavior of a crab. The bat could move both forward, backward, and side- 

 ways, but seemingly preferred head first. 



I then reached out my hand and succeeded in touching the vampire, which 

 attempted to dodge. It did not, however, make any movement to fiy. The 

 goat by now was exceptionally restless and ran back and forth around the room. 

 It v/as a timid animal and it was of us that it was afraid. When we left, the 

 bat was still riding the goat. 



Later visits to the enclosure showed some of the other bats flying 

 down from the ceiling, landing on "all fours" upon the floor, then 

 hopping like toads from one spot to another, instead of assuming the 

 walking gait. On one occasion a bat was seen to be so gorged and 

 heavy from its sanguineous meal that it slid off the back of a goat to 

 the floor. It was unable to launch itself in flight from the floor, 

 hence climbed the wall, with head inverted, and when midw^ay up 

 launched itself in flight, returning to its customary hanging place on 

 a ceiling beam. 



Wlien the senior author arrived in Trinidad, he spent considerable 

 time observing the bats during the early evening, in the screened 



* The act of pushing aside the pelage and of bitinj 



