294 BA TS 



THE WHITE BATS 

 Genus Diclidurus 



As white is a color but rarely met with among the Chiroptera, we cannot pass 

 over the white bats, which are represented only by two species from Central and 

 South America. These bats are allied to the tomb-bats, but have three pairs of 

 lower incisor teeth, and they are also distinguished from other bats by the presence 

 of a peculiar pouch on * the under side of the membrane between the legs. The 

 typical white bat {Diclidurus albus) has the fur on the body dark at the base, but 

 the greater portion of each hair, up to the tip, is of a yellowish or creamy white, 

 while the whole of the wing membranes are pure white. The first known specimen 

 was found in Brazil reposing between the fronds of a cocoa palm. If this be the 

 normal habitat of the species, its coloration may perhaps be a protective one, 

 adapted to resemble the silvery hue of the under surface of the palm leaves. Here 

 it may be mentioned that albino varieties of dark-colored bats are occasionally met 

 with ; the most recently described example that has come under our notice being a 

 white specimen of a species of Vesperugo ( V. capensis), obtained in 1890 near Cape 

 Town. 



THE HAIR-LIPPED BATS 

 Genus Noctilio 



If the white bats are noteworthy on account of their color, the two species of 

 hare-lipped bats, which are likewise Central and South American forms, are deserv- 

 ing of mention an account of the curious superficial resemblances of their muzzles to 

 those of the Rodents, while at least the ordinary species (Noctilio leporinus) , which 

 has been known since the time of Linnaeus, is not less remarkable from the peculiar 

 nature of its diet. These bats derive their ordinary name from their curiously 

 folded upper lip, which is bent upwards in the middle line in the form of an inverted 

 V, terminated above by the nostrils. The feet and claws are remarkable for their 

 large size. They have 28 teeth, of which there are \ incisors, and f cheek-teeth on 

 each side. The first, or innermost pair of upper incisor teeth, are of great size, and 

 placed close together so as to conceal the small outer pair ; and as the large ones bite 

 against the single smaller pair of lower incisors, the resemblance to the mouth of a 

 small Rodent, such as a mouse, is very striking. 



These bats appear to be almost omnivorous in their diet. That they would 

 freely eat cockroaches was proved long ago by Mr. P. H. Gosse, when in Jamaica ; 

 and it was at the same time shown that they would chew, although not swallow, 

 the flesh of small birds. In 1859, a Mr. Fraser, writing from Ecuador, stated that 

 they had a very peculiar and offensive fishy smell, and that he had observed them 

 ' ' skimming the bank of the river, every now and then making a dash along, and 

 actually striking the water, catching the minute shrimps as they pass up stream.'* 

 It was not, however, till 1880, that it was definitely known that they actually 

 caught and fed upon small fish. Professor M'Carthy, who made special investiga- 



