TYPICAL BATS. 23 



Plecolus auritus, Geoffr. Descript. de TEgypte p. 118 (1812); 

 Bell, British Quadrupeds 2nd ed. p. 72 (1874). 

 (Plate II.) 



Characters. Ears enormous, not greatly inferior in length to 

 the head and body, sub-oval, with the tips broadly rounded, 

 and their inner margins joined near the base, above which is a 

 prominent rounded lobe. Wings arising from the base of the 

 toes ; feet slender ; tail as long as the head and body, with its 

 tip just projecting beyond the margin of the membrane;* fur 

 soft. General colour brown, usually becoming fawn-coloured 

 or light brown above, and whitish beneath ; at least the basal 

 halves of the hairs being black. Length of head and body 

 about i y^ inch ; of tail slightly less, or the same. 



Distribution. This species has a very wide geographical dis- 

 tribution, extending from Ireland through Europe and Nor- 

 thern Africa to the Himalaya, and probably inhabiting the 

 greater portion of temperate Asia. In the British Islands it is 

 one of the most common and widely-distributed members of 

 the Order, ranging over the greater part of Scotland, and re- 

 ported to occur through the Inner Hebrides, where it has been 

 taken, at least, in Mull and Islay. It has been doubtfully 

 recorded from Lochabar, and has been once taken at Tor- 

 castle. In Ireland it appears to be distributed in suitable 

 localities throughout the island. A specimen obtained many 

 years ago by the late Leonard Jenyns (afterwards Blomefield) 

 in the Isle of Ely, was described as a distinct species under 

 the name of Plecotus brevimanus, on account of certain 

 differences in the relative proportions of the limbs and 

 coloration ; it is now known to be nothing more than an 

 individual variety. 



Habits. Essentially an inhabitant of the open country, and 



* In the relative length of the ears and tail, the illustration is not quite 

 tiue to nature. 



