Northern Red-bat 1187 



As the young are found of tender age early in June gesta- 

 and late in May, it is probable that the gestation lasts for 8 '^^°^ 

 months. 



Although but I young one has been found with the youxvg 

 mother in most cases observed, M. W. Lyon, Jr., calls attention^ 

 to the fact that this Bat has 4 mammae, and that 4 unborn 

 young have been taken from an adult female of L. borealis 

 salincE. 



He says: "While the rule for most Bats is i, or some- 

 times 2, offspring at parturition, yet a careful examination 

 of material and the literature shows the number of young pro- 

 duced at a time by members of the genus Lasiurus, and probably 

 Dasypterus, is usually double that number. This might safely 

 be inferred from the fact that 4 mammae are found in Bats 

 of this group, as has been noted by several writers. In all 

 other Bats, so far as the writer is aware, there are 2 mammae, 

 each of which is placed near the middle of the outer border of 

 the pectoral muscle. In the Lasiurine Bats, in addition to 

 these 2, there is a second pair, located more posteriorly, each 

 mamma of which is nearer the back and pretty well up under 

 the wing. 



"As to the number of young in Lasiurus, Professor Wilder 

 found 3 embryos in each of 2 specimens of L. borealis from 



Massachusetts. 



******* 



"A specimen of L. borealis from Illinois (No. 14,273), 

 preserved in alcohol, contains 2 fetuses. 



"The most interesting specimens in this connection are 

 Nos. 114,044 to 114,048, an adult female nursing 4 young, 

 brought into the National Museum alive by Mr. J. C. Lawson, 

 of Washington, D. C, on June 18, 1902. * * * A young one 

 was at each of the adult's nipples, where it held on with great 

 tenacity, having in its mouth a good deal of its mother's hair, 

 into which its hooked milk teeth firmly caught. As Dobson 

 has suggested, it is probably for the purpose of holding securely 



' Proc. United States Nat. Mus., Vol. XXVI, pp. 425-6, 1903. 



