288 BA TS 



second and third, and third and fourth fingers, and also the space included be- 

 tween the fourth finger, and a line drawn between the wrist and the ankle ; the 

 remaining portions being orange. Then, again, the membrane between the legs is 

 margined behind by a black band, and dotted over with small black spots ; similar 

 dots also occurring upon the the orange-colored portions of the wings between the 

 arms and legs. Hodgson's bat (V.formosus) of India and China, which is more 

 nearly related to the under-mentioned whiskered bat, has an almost identical col- 

 oration, the only difference being that the membrane between the legs is wholly 

 orange, and the black spots are wanting from the wings. 



While on the subject of brilliantly-colored bats, we may mention two other 

 species belonging to different genera. One of these is the Indian painted bat 

 {Cerivoula picta) , belonging to a genus (Cerivoula} closely allied to Vespertilio, but 

 distinguished by having the upper incisor teeth parallel instead of divergent. In 

 this bat the fur on the upper parts is a deep orange or ferruginous red, and that 

 beneath paler. The wing membranes are black, with orange spots and lines of 

 orange along the fingers and on the margins, while the membrane between the legs 

 is wholly orange. So brilliant indeed is the species, that it is said to have the 

 appearance of a gorgeous butterfly rather than a bat. 



Our second example of contrasting coloration is the white-winged bat {Nycti- 

 cejus albofuscus), the river Gambia, on the West Coast of Africa. The genus 

 Nycticejus, which has been incidentally mentioned on p. 281, is closely related to 

 Vesperugo. In color the body of the white-winged bat is dark amber brown both 

 above and below ; and the naked skin of all the portions exposed when the creature 

 is at rest is likewise of a nearly similar hue. On the other hand, those portions of 

 the wing membranes lying external to a line drawn from the elbow to the knee are 

 pure white on both sides, thus contrasting very markedly with the dark tint of the 

 body and limbs. All the other known members of the genus have the body and 

 wings more or less uniformly colored ; but, as observed by Mr. O. Thomas, the 

 describer of this singular species, many of the smaller bats of the Gambia, belong- 

 ing to several distinct genera, have dark bodies with white wings. That there is 

 some good reason for this peculiar style of coloration among the Gambian bats is 

 evident, although no explanation has hitherto been offered. With regard to the 

 coloration of Hodgson's bat, it has been shown by the late Mr. Swinhoe that in the 

 island of Formosa this species is in the habit of hanging suspended on the fruit of 

 the longan tree (Ncphdium). " Now this tree," writes Mr. Swinhoe, "is an ever- 

 green, and all the year through some portion of its foliage is undergoing decay, the 

 particular leaves being, in such a stage, partially orange and black. This bat can, 

 therefore, at all seasons suspend itself from its branches, and elude its enemies by 

 its resemblance to the leaf of the tree. It was in August when a specimen was 

 brought to me. It had at that season found the fruit ripe and reddish yellow, and 

 had tried to escape observation in the semblance of its own tints to those of the 

 fruit." A similar explanation will doubtless hold good with regard to the Indian 

 painted bat, which feeds on plantains, which, when ripe, are of a bright yel- 

 low or orange color, speckled with black, and thus almost exactly similar to 

 the bat. 



