NYCTICEJUS. 321 



head and body are 3 inches long, tail 2, forearm 2-1, ear from crown 

 0-35. In some adults the forearm is less than 2 inches. But 

 large individuals occur, both males and females, with a forearm 

 from 2-4 to 2 - 7. These have generally been separated as a distinct 

 species under the name of N. heathi, but Dobson has classed them 

 as a variety. I cannot but think he is right, though certainly the 

 difference is very remarkable. 



Distribution. The whole Oriental region from Sind to Borneo 

 and the Philippines. Common nearly throughout India, Ceylon, 

 Assam, and Burma, but, I think, less abundant in forest-regions 

 than in cultivated tracts. This species is said by Hutton to occur 

 at low elevations not exceeding about 3000 feet on the Western 

 Himalayas. I cannot find it recorded from Nepal or Sikhim. 



Habits. Not only is this bat very common throughout India, but 

 it is one of the first to appear in the evening, so that it is seldom 

 wanting in any collection of Indian Chiroptera. It flies more slowly 

 and steadily than the species of Vesperugo in general. In the day- 

 time it has been found by Hutton singly, in pairs, or in small parties 

 of five or six in outhouses, sheds, verandahs, temples, &c. In Java, 

 according to Horsfield, it collects by hundreds in the trunks and 

 hollows of trees, and feeds chiefly on " white ants." 



Mr. Oldfield Thomas has recently ascertained that the immature 

 type of Scotopliilus Tcufdii in the British Museum undoubtedly 

 belongs to the present species. 



195. Nycticejus emarginatus. The large-eared yellow Bat. 



Nycticejus emarginatus, Dobson, P. A. S. B. 1871, p. 211. 

 Scotophilus emarginatus, Dobson, Mon. As. Chir. p. 123 ; id. Cat. 

 Chir. B. M. p. 262 ; Anderson, Cat. p. 136. 



Ears large, with broadly rounded tips ; inner margin convex, 

 with a rounded lobe at the base, passing in front of the inner 

 margin of the tragus and resting on part of its anterior surface ; 

 outer margin abruptly emarginate below the tip, ending below in a 

 rounded lobe ; tragus moderately long, without any ridge on the 

 front surface, slightly curved inwards and obtusely pointed, main- 

 taining almost the same breadth from the base to within a short 

 distance from the tip, above this there is a rapid diminution in the 

 width. 



Head broad and flat ; muzzle thick and obtuse ; glands of the 

 upper lip largely developed, forming rounded prominences between 

 the nostrils and eyes. Last tail-vertebra free. Fur short and close. 



Colour of fur throughout at the base dark ferruginous brown, 

 then buff, on the upper parts alone yellowish-brown tips are added. 



Dimensions. Head and body 2-9 inches, tail 2-2, ear (from base 

 of outer margin) 0*85, forearm 2*2. 



Distribution. The only known specimen, the type in the Indian 

 Museum, Calcutta, is from an unknown locality ^in India. The 

 above description is slightly abridged from Dobson's. 



