304 BA TS 



that a tame one had escaped from the premises of one of my neighbors. I opened 

 the stomachs of several of these bats, and found them to contain a mass of pulp and 

 seeds of fruits, mingled with a few remains of insects. The natives say they devour 

 ripe cajus and guavas on trees in the gardens ; but on comparing the seeds taken 

 from their stomachs with those of all cultivated trees of Ega, I found they were 

 .unlike any of them. It is therefore probable that they generally resort to the forest 

 to feed, coming to the village in the morning to sleep, because they find it more 

 secure from animals of prey than their natural abodes in the woods." 



It will be observed that Mr. Bates speaks of the great vampire as the vampire, 

 but, according to Dr. Dobson, this title is more properly applicable to the blood- 

 sucking vampires noticed below. While the great vampire is entirely without a 

 tail, the lesser vampire ( V. auritus) has a small rudiment of that appendage. The 

 latter species serves to connect the former with an allied genus of bats known as 

 Lophostoma, in which the nose-leaf is narrower in front, and the chin has a central 

 naked space marked by small warts. It also shows resemblances to the javelin-bats, 

 mentioned on this page, in the presence of a glandular opening near the top of the 

 breastbone. 



THE JAVEUN-BATS 

 Genus Phyllostoma 



Omitting mention of several allied genera, we come next to the javelin-bats, of 

 which there are three species. These are distinguished from the harmless vampires 

 by the much shorter and broader muzzle, and also by the presence of two (instead 

 of three) premolar teeth on each side of the lower jaw. 



THE JAVELIN VAMPIRE. 



The common javelin-bat (Phyllostoma hastatum) measures just under four inches 

 in the length of head and body, and is next in point of size to the great vampire. Its 

 general color is usually da'-k grayish, or reddish brown above, and paler beneath, 

 but sometimes the upper pa -ts are of a brilliant chestnut brown. The other two 

 species are much smaller, measuring only three inches, or a fraction more, in length 

 of head and body. All are found in Brazil, and they generally rest in the trunks 



