528 THE SEROTINE AND TIPISTRELLE chap. 



these two characters it may be added that the nose leaf is well 

 developed, but is not so complicated as in the last family. The 

 type genus Nycteris is Ethiopian and Oriental, nine species being 

 African, and only one, N. javanica, being, as the specific name 

 denotes, from the East. Megaderma is to be distinguished by the 

 loss of the upper incisors. There is no tail, and the ears are 

 particularly large. They are carni^^orous Bats, and M. lyra, called 

 the " Indian Vampire Bat," chiefly affects frogs as an article of diet. 



Fam. 3. Vespertilionidae. — This family has not the nose 

 leaf of other families. The apertures of the nostrils are simple, 

 round, or crescentic apertures. The ear has a tragus, and the tail 

 is not produced to any great degree behind the interfemoral 

 membrane. There are two phalanges to the index digit. 



This family in numbers of species is vastly in excess of any 

 other family of Bats. The most recent estimate, that of P. L. 

 and W. L. Sclater, allows 190. But the generic types are by no 

 means so numerous as in the Phyllostomatidae. This is a signi- 

 ficant fact when we reflect upon the geographical range of the two 

 families. The Vespertilionidae range over the whole earth, while 

 the Phyllostomatidae are practically limited to the South American 

 continent, only just getting into the Nearctic region. They in- 

 habit, therefore, a more restricted area, and, in consequence of 

 competition, have specialised more freely than the widely-spread 

 and therefore not crowded Vespertilionidae. 



The genus Vesjjerugo is by far the largest genus of this family, 

 embracing no less than seventy species. The tail is shorter than 

 the head and body together ; the ears are separate, and moderate 

 or short in size ; the tragus is generally short and ol^tuse. The 

 dentition is I 2, C 1, Pm 2 or 1, M 3. It is a remarkable fact 

 that this genus, unlike most Bats, produces two young at a time. 

 The genus is universal in range, and one species, the Serotine Bat, 

 known in this country, even ranges from the New World to the 

 Old ; but with so small a creature the possibility of accidental 

 transportation by man must not be left out of sight. The British 

 species are — V. serotinus, the Serotine already mentioned ; V. 

 discolor, a single example only of which has occurred, and may 

 have been introduced ; V. noctula, the habits of which were 

 described by Gilbert White ; V. leisleri ; and the Pipistrelle, V. 

 2n2nstrellus, which is the best-known member of the genus in this 

 country. 



