Bats of the Belgian Congo* 



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By H E R B E II T L A N (I and -I A M E S P. C H A P I N 



The main object of the Congo Expedition of the American Museum, which penetrated into 

 the northeastern section of the Belgian Congo for a distance of from twelve hundred to two 

 thousand miles, was the gathering of larger mammals and birds. We present here some 

 notes on one of the minor results, an extremely interesting collection of Chiroptera. The 

 many zoological expeditions that have entered a similar field in Africa, even the more suc- 

 cessful ones, have brought home only ten or fifteen of the commoner bats from the regions 

 they traversed — usually in great haste. Our collection numbers about 800 specimens. 



In order to mark an advance in zoological explorations, the authorities of the American 

 Museum of Natural History and the friends who helped support this expedition extended the 

 privilege of continuing well-organized research work over five years in one of the least 

 explored and most interesting regions of Central Africa. As this area usually is considered 

 the most unhealthful on the globe, much depends on physical fitness, — should a kindly fate 

 let one escape from the hundred and one chances of infection by tropical diseases. The 

 abundance of tsetse flies makes even the use of beasts of burden impossible, so that thou- 

 sands of miles have to be covered on foot under disagreeable and ad<-erse circumstances. As 

 a result of the daily rains and on account of the moist climate, collections are especially 

 liable to destruction. Yet the specimens, exceeding a hundred thousand in number, arrived 

 in perfect condition at the American Museum. Their packing in loads of about sixty pounds 

 was especially annoying, but, in the interior, porterage becomes the only mode of transporta- 

 tion. For more than five years we were out of reach of railroads, telegraphs, and telephones, 

 and never heard a steam whistle or saw a motor car. — The Authors. 



BATS from the Belgian Congo i 

 liave. up to the present, been 

 known very little except by a 

 few dry skins and skulls in museums. 

 Travelers report having seen hundreds, 

 or even thousands, roosting head down- 

 ward in the trees, or migrating. But 

 in the forest regions of the Congo an 

 unsuspecting traveler may cover thou- 

 sands of miles on the beaten track with- 

 out ever hearing more than the noises 

 of animals escaping at his approach. 

 Or he may see a fcAV troops of noisily 



1 The American Museum Congo Expedition Col- 

 lection of Bats. By J. A. Allen. Herbert Lang, 

 and James P. Chapin. Bull Amer. Miis. Nat. 

 Eisf., 1917, Vol. XXXVII, Art. XVIII, pp. 405- 

 563. Pis. XLIV-LV, 26 text figures and map. 

 Price $1.50. Systematic list, pp. 405-478; Notes 

 on the Distribution and Ecology of Central Afri- 

 can Chiroptera, pp. 479-496; Field Notes, pp. 

 497-560. This recent publication deals with the 

 description of sixty-eight different bats, of which 

 twenty-nine are newly discovered forms. The 

 unique feature is a record of their life histories 

 with numerous excellent illustrations. 



* Illustrations from field pliotographs by Mr. Lang and color drawings made in the field by Mr. Chapin. 



558 



])assing monkeys, a hundred and fifty 

 feet above the ground in the somber 

 canopies. From the tales of the na- 

 tives or his porters, he may learn about 

 the devastation caused, often long ago, 

 by elephants or buffaloes. Unfortu- 

 nately stories of man-eating leopards 

 that carried off children and attacked 

 women, too often are based on facts. 

 We know of at least two white men 

 during our stay killed within their very 

 tents. Both had laughed boisterously 

 at the tales of the terrified natives. To 

 show their courage they left their tents 

 open during the night. Rudely shaken 

 out of their sleep, they had not enough 

 time to call for help, so quickly did 

 these leopards crush their skulls. In 

 only one case was the leopard killed by 

 the armed sentinel. 



Our excellent relations with the na- 

 tives in the Belgian Congo helped us in 



