10.36] 



MAMMALS OF OREGON 



377 



FIGURE 95. Range of two small bats in Oregon : 1, 

 Myotis californteus calif ornicus; 2, M. c. caurinus. 



able on the wing, often found swarming around barns and old build- 

 ings, or along the canyon walls or the edges of a forest, they are 

 discernible only during a brief span of twilight. For the 15 or 20 

 minutes before actual darkness the eager collector shoots rapidly 

 as. the bats cross a span of clear western sky, and if favored by skill 

 and good luck afterward picks up a few specimens, sometimes com- 

 prising several species, sometimes all of one kind. One of these little 

 bats may come into a room through open door or window and be 

 knocked down with a towel or sack and secured for a specimen, or 

 a few may be picked from cracks in the rocks or dark retreats in 

 attics or walls, but the 

 numbers collected or 

 identified are of little 

 significance as an index 

 to the actual numbers 

 that are flying all night 

 and collecting their insect 

 food. 



In autumn they disap- 

 pear to sleep away the 

 winter in some cave or 

 mine shaft or safe retreat 

 and are not seen again 

 until the warm days of 

 spring. 



Breeding habits. There 

 seem to be no actual breed- 

 ing records for Oregon although specimens have been collected dur- 

 ing the spring and early summer when undoubtedly they were on 

 their breeding grounds. In other parts of its range records show 

 that one young, born apparently in June, is the usual number. 



Food habits. Of specimens collected the stomachs are usually 

 full of insect remains so finely masticated that only with a high-power 

 microscope can one determine even the groups to which the insects 

 belong. Apparently all are flying species, captured on the wing, but 

 of the actual feeding habits of the bats comparatively little is 

 known. 



MYOTIS CALIFORNICUS CAURINUS MILLER 



NORTHWEST COAST BAT 



Uyotis californicus caurinus Miller, North Amer. Fauna No. 13, p. 72, 1897. 



Type. Collected at Massett, Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia, by 

 J. H. Keen in 1895. 



General characters. Size slightly larger than typical californicus, and color 

 darker. Upper parts argus brown of Ridgway; lower parts slightly paler, 

 about sudan brown, near chestnut above and hazel below ; ears and membranes 

 blackish. 



Measurements. Two specimens from Queen Charlotte Islands: Total length, 

 81 and 87 mm; tail, 36 and 39; foot, 8 and 7; forearm, 30. One male from 

 McKenzie Bridge: 78; 32; 7; 12; 32. Oregon specimens are slightly smaller 

 than typical. 



Distribution and habitat. Humid area of the Pacific coast from 

 the southern Alaska islands south to northwestern California and 

 the vicinity of San Francisco Bay. In Oregon specimens are re- 



