302 



BATS 



although there has been, and still is, considerable doubt on the matter, appear to> 

 vary their ordinary diet by resorting to blood sucking when occasion occurs. All 

 are of purely aerial habits, and present none of the adaptations for crawling which 

 characterize the mastiff- bats and their allies. They appear to be limited to the forest- 

 clad districts of the regions they inhabit ; and, according to Dr. Dobson, do not 

 probably extend much farther south than the thirtieth parallel of latitude. That 

 they are a highly specialized family is apparent both from their structure and the 

 peculiar habits of many of their representatives. In South America the name vam- 

 pire is applied indifferently to several members of the family a circumstance which 

 has been the fruitful source of confusion among European writers. 



THE CHIN-LEAFED BATS 

 Genera Chilonycteris and Mormops 



Two genera, the one containing six and the other two species, differ from the 

 other members of this family in the absence of a nose-leaf, the function of which is 



performed by folds or lappets of skin depend- 

 ing from the chin. These bats may conse- 

 quently be called chin-leafed bats. They are 

 of small size, the largest only measuring two 

 and one-half inches in length, exclusive of 

 the tail. The two species belonging to the 

 genus Mormops are distinguished from those 

 included in the genus Chilonycteris by the 

 great elevation of the crown of the head 

 above the line of the face, as shown in our 

 illustration. While most of the species are 

 dull colored, Blainville's chin-leafed bat (Mor- 

 mops blainvillei} is remarkable for the bright 



orange hue of its fur ; and it is also remarkable for its extremely fragile structure, 

 the head being so delicately formed that light can actually be seen through the roof 

 of the open mouth. 



HEAD OF BLAINVILLE'S CHIN-LEAFED 



BAT. 



(From Dobson's Catalogue of Bats in the Brit- 

 ish Museum.') 



THE HARMLESS VAMPIRES 

 Genus Vampirus 



We take as our first example of those having a nose-leaf, the well-known great 

 vampire ( Vampirus spectrum} . It belongs to a group of the family in which the 

 tail, when present, perforates the membrane between the legs. The nose-leaf, as in 

 most members of the family, is spear shaped, whence the name of spear-nosed bats, 

 frequently applied to all the vampires. The great vampire, according to Bates, is 

 abundant in many parts of the valley of the Amazon, such as the neighborhood of 



