274 BA T $ 



eared bat is North American, the second kind of barbastelle is a Himalayan species. 

 The Himalayan barbastelle (S. darjilingensis} is distinguished from its European 

 congener by its larger ears, which lack the projecting lobe found on the outer 

 margin of those of the latter. This bat appears to be common in the Himalayas, 

 and has been captured in localities so far apart from one another as Gilgit and 

 Darjiling. It is generally found at altitudes varying from about five thousand to 

 eight thousand feet above the sea. In habits the Himalayan barbastelle appears 

 to be very similar to its European relative ; showing itself, however, rather late in 

 the evening, and hibernating in the narrowest crevices and chinks of rocks into 

 which it can contrive to crawl. There are four other bats allied to the long-eared 

 bat and barbastelle, which are referred to three distinct genera. One of these is 

 Hemprich's eared-bat ( Otonycteris hempricht) from North Africa and the Northwest 

 Himalayas, which is characterized by having only thirty teeth, owing to the reduc- 

 tion in the number of the upper incisors and premolars to a single pair each. Its 

 ears are considerably longer than the head. The second genus, Nyctophilus> com- 

 prises one species from Australia and a second from New Guinea, which, while 

 possessing the same number of teeth as Hemprich's bat, are distinguished by the 

 possession of a rudimentary nose-leaf. Finally, we have the Californian cave-bat 

 (Antrozous pallidus], in which there are only twenty-eight teeth, owing to the 

 reduction of the number of lower incisors to two pairs (a feature unique among the 

 typical bats) , the genus being also distinguished from all the members of the family 

 hitherto mentioned by the ears being disconnected with one another. 



THE PIPISTRELLE, NOCTULE, AND SEROTINE 



Genus Vesperugo 



The pipistrelle, noctule, and serotine, of which the first and second are figured 

 among our illustrations, are the three best-known British representatives of the 

 large and widely-distributed genus Vesperugo ; the pipistrelle ( V. pipistrellus) being 

 the common English bat. With these bats we enter upon the consideration of a 

 group of genera, distinguished from that containing the long-eared bat and its allies 

 by several more or less important features. Among these may be mentioned the 

 simple nature of the nostrils, which are without any trace of groovings or foldings 

 of the skin, while the ears are usually of comparatively small size, and are always 

 quite separate from one another. 



The bats included in the same genus ( Vesperugo} as the pipistrelle are very 

 numerous, and vary to a certain extent in personal appearance, and also in the num- 

 ber of their teeth, which is either thirty, thirty-four, or thirty-six. Dr. Dobson 

 says that they may be easily recognized by their relatively stout bodies, their broad 

 and flattened heads and blunt muzzles, as well as by their broad, short, and trian- 

 gular ears, in which the tragus is usually rather thick and inclined somewhat in- 

 wardly. Moreover, their legs are unusually short, and the membrane connecting 

 the legs with the tail almost always has a small supplemental portion situated on 

 the outer side of the spur rising from the heel. 



