CHEIROPTERA. 



Subgenus 3. Barbastelltjs. — Grinders 4 above, 4 below, 

 on each side ; ears moderate, united at the base above the 

 eyes ; a flat naked space on the forehead, suiTounded by a 

 membranous edge. 



Subgenus 1. Yespertilio. 



Vespertilio Noctida. 



Vespertilio Nocttda, Desm. Mamm. Sp. 204 ; Bell, Brit. Quad. ; Temm. 

 Monog. vol. ii. p. 169 ; Buon. Faun. Ital. (figured). 



Description. — Two false molars on each side, above and 

 below. Head very broad ; muzzle short and thick in adults, 

 somewhat elongated in the yoimg ; nostrils tumid at the 

 edges, slightly bilobate ; forehead very hairy, rest of the 

 face almost naked ; ears shorter than the head, somewhat 

 triangular, rounded at the extremity, the posterior margin 

 folded back with a projecting ridge internally, and a small 

 protuberance at the base, which extends round nearly to 

 the comers of the mouth ; tragus very small, ending above 

 in a broad round head. Fui' rather short, but soft and 

 thick, of a uniform reddish brown above and below ; mem- 

 branes dusky, with a ridge of hah' along the bones of the 

 arm. Tail shorter than the fore-arm, reaching 1\ line be- 

 yond the membrane. 



Length of head and body, 2 inches 11 lines; head, 10 

 lines ; tail, 1 inch 8 lines ; ears, 7-| lines ; tragus, 2-i- lines ; 

 breadth of ears, 6 lines ; of tragus, 1^ Kne ; length of the 

 fore-arm, 2 inches; of the thumb, 2^ hues; extent of wings, 

 14 inches. 



Is found in almost every country of Europe. Rare in 

 England and in France. More common in Germany. 

 Pallas describes it as met with everywhere in Russia, but 

 in greatest plenty on the shores of the Caspian, where it 

 feeds on the gnats which abound there : common in the 



