182 WILD BEASTS OF THE WORLD 



to be sucking blood from the toe of a man who was calmly engaged 

 in conversation at the time. 



The toes in man are usually the point attacked ; Horses are bitten 

 on the withers, and Fowls on the comb or the hocks. The attack is, 

 of course, serious in the case of animals so small as poultry, nor is it 

 without much inconvenience in the case of man and large domestic 

 animals : a vampire-bitten big toe is apt to bleed for some time and 

 give trouble when boots are worn, and bites on a Horse interfere with 

 the saddling of the animal. Moreover, the loss of blood is not to be 

 despised, especially in the case of individuals for whom the Bats show 

 a special predilection, for, like blood-sucking insects, they have their 

 preferences. 



They are said to be afraid of light, so that a lamp kept burning 

 in a stable is a good protection to Horses, and another preventive is 

 found in thorny bushes hung up above the animals' backs, near which 

 the Bats are afraid to venture for fear of tearing their wings. One 

 would think that wire-netting in the windows and doors would be 

 the simplest protection of all. 



So far as structural evidence goes, there are only two other species 

 of Bats, both also South American, which are blood-suckers by pro- 

 fession, so to speak ; but it is not impossible that other species may 

 attempt the practice in an amateur way, though it would be difficult 

 for a Bat with the ordinary small incisors and long sharp canines 

 to inflict a bite that would not wake the object of its attentions. 



The whole of the Vampire family are confined to South America, 

 most of them being fruit-eaters, and being peculiar in this habit 

 among the " Small Bats " ; some have the same long brush-tipped 

 tongue that is found among some Flying-Foxes, and even show a 

 lengthened muzzle like them. Most Vampires, however, are short- 

 faced, like ordinary Bats, and have the curious flat fleshy appendage 

 on the nose so often found in the Microchiroptera, and known as the 

 " nose-leaf." 



