VESPERTILTO AURITUS. 33 



Subgenus 2. Plecotus, 

 Vespertilio auritus. 



Vespertilio aurihts, Desm. Mamm. sp. 223 ; Temm, Monog. vol. ii. 



p. 181. 

 Plecotus auritus, Gteoffuoy, Bell, Brit. Quad. ; Buox. Faun. Ital. 



(figvired). 

 Long-eared Bat, Bell, I. c. 



Description. — False molars |-. Head and face flattened ; 

 muzzle somewhat swollen ; nostrils tumid, elongated back- 

 wards into a sort of cul-de-sac ; ears very large, more than 

 twice the length of the head, oblong, oval, thin, semi- 

 transparent, with a broad longitudinal fold on their inner 

 margin, near the base of which is a small projecting lobe, 

 ciliated like the rest of the margin; tragus long oval- 

 lanceolate, the outer margin somewhat sinuous, the inner 

 straight; ears united over the head, extending round to 

 the mouth ; tail free at top ; forehead and anterior sur- 

 face of the membrane which connects the ears, hairy, 

 under sui'face of the same naked. Fur long and silky, 

 brownish grey on the upper parts, paler beneath the body ; 

 the ears are generally ciuied outwards, but the animal, 

 when at rest, conceals them beneath the fore-arm, the 

 tragus alone remaining erect. 



Length of head and body, 1 inch 10 lines ; tail, 1 inch 

 8 lines ; head, 8 lines; fore-arm, 1 inch 5 lines ; ears, 1^ 

 inch ; tragus, 7 hues ; breadth of the ears, 9 lines ; breadth 

 of the tragus, 2-i- lines ; length of the thumb, 2-J lines ; 

 extent of wings, 10 inches 2 lines. 



Resorts generally to roofs of churches and houses ; 

 rarely flies over water. 



One of the most common Bats in the British Islands. 

 Is found throughout the warmer and temperate countries 

 of Europe, and in the North of Africa. Yery common 



c5 



