TAPUOZOUS. 349 



interfenioral as far as the point of exsertion of the tail ; a few 

 scattered long hairs on the free part of the tail itself. The hair 

 extends farther on the wing-membrane below than above, whilst 

 the interfemoral is almost naked on its lower surface. Muzzle 

 almost naked. 



The upper incisors are generally absent, in young individuals 

 they are small and slender. 



Colour of fur reddish brown to black, nearly the same above and 

 below : the hairs paler, often whitish at the base. Blyth observed 

 that young individuals are pale f ulvescent and that they grow 

 gradually blacker with age. 



Dimensions. Head and body 3 inches, tail 1-1, ear from crown 

 0-5, forearm 2'4. 



Distribution. Thoughout the greater part of the Indian Peninsula, 

 Ceylon, and Burma, extending to Tenasserim and Malacca ; common 

 about Calcutta (whence originally described), Madras, and other 

 large towns. Not yet recorded from Northern or North-western 

 India, but found in parts of the Southern Central Provinces 

 (Chanda, Bilaspur) ; also near Bombay and Travancore. 



Habits. This species is probably a cave-dweller and inhabitant 

 of rock-fissures ; it is frequently found in old temples, cellars, out- 

 houses, &c. It was, however, once observed by Blyth on the stem 

 of a palm-tree. The same observer noticed that individuals in 

 confinement could cling to the vertical smooth mahogany back of a 

 cage, and creep up it by means of their claws. In pregnant 

 females a single young one was found early in August in Calcutta. 



221. Taphozous cachhensis. The Cutch sheath-tailed Sat. 



Taphozous kachhensis, Dobson. P. A. S. B. 1872, p. 152; id. J.A. 

 &J&.xli,pt2,p,221. 



Taphozous nudiventris subsp. kachhensis, Dobson, P. Z. S. 1875, 

 p. 554 ; id. Mon. As. Chir. p. 172 ; id. Cat. Chir. B. M. p. 388 ; 

 Anderson, Cat. p. 148. 



No gular sac, but its position is slightly indicated in males, 

 not in females. Radio-metacarpal pouch small. Ear-conch with 

 papillae on the inner margin. 



Wings from the tibiae above the ankles. The muzzle is nearly 

 naked. The wing and interfemoral membranes are quite naked 

 above, as are the arms and legs, the hair terminates abruptly on 

 the lower part of the back. Beneath, the proximal portion of the 

 humerus and the wing-membrane as far as a line from the middle 

 of the humerus to the pubis are hairy, but the lower abdomen, legs, 

 and interfemoral membrane are quite naked. There are large 

 deposits of fat about the root of the tail. 



Colour not recorded, probably greyish brown as in T. nudi- 

 ventris. 



Dimensions. Head and body in a female 3-6 inches, tail 1-25, 

 forearm 2-95; in a male 3-35, 1-15, and 2'65. The ear from the 

 base of the outer margin measures 0-9. 



2u2 



