FREE-TAILED BAT 



the United States are social in habit, some of them congregat- 

 ing, under favorable circumstances, in very large numbers, and 

 are characterized by a pronounced, musky odor, rather 

 disagreeable in nature. The largest and heaviest of the 

 Bats found in the United States is a molossid, Eumops 

 caUjornicus. 



Genus Tadarida 



Dentition: Incisors, § or |; Canines, \; Premolars, |; Molars, 

 f. =30 or 32. 



Free-tailed Bat. — Tadarida cynocephala 



and related forms 



Names. — Free-tailed Bat, with various qualifying words for 

 the different forms. 



General Description.- — A medium-sized Bat with tail only 

 partly within the interfemoral membrane and projecting for 

 about half its length; ears low, very broad, tough and leathery, 

 arising from the same point on forehead; tragus very small, 

 flat, truncate; stiff, bristly hairs on face; tiny horny excres- 

 cences on inner margins of ears; upper lip wrinkled; wings 

 very narrow, interfemoral membrane reduced; pelage soft and 

 velvet-like, dark in color; foot with long hairs on toes. 



Color. — Sexes colored alike; no noticeable seasonal varia- 

 tion. 



Upperparts uniform warm brown, near bister brown, the 

 pelage short and with very short, light-colored base; mem- 

 branes brownish; underparts lighter than upperparts and with 

 more yellow. 



Measurements. — Total length, 4 inches; tail vertebrae, i 

 inch; hind foot, .35 inch; forearm, 1.75 inches. 



Geographical Distribution. — Southern states. 



Food. — Flying insects. 



Enemies. — Owls. 



Species and Subspecies of the Genus Tadarida 



This genus is almost cosmopolitan in its distribution, but is 

 essentially a tropical or warm-country group. Only a few forms 

 range north into the southern states, although in Central and 

 South America the Free-tailed Bats are very abundant. 



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