34 ANIMAL LIFE OF THE BRITISH ISLES. 



still a Bat without distinction of species. Although there are 

 twelve distinct kinds that breed in the British Isles, for each of 

 which the naturalist has had to invent an English as well as an 

 international name, not one of these has got into ordinary use ; 

 so that it is impossible to get any precise information from those 

 whose occupation gives them opportunities for observation. 



Larger Horse-Shoe Bat (Rhi?wlophus ferrum-eqtdnum, 

 Schreber). 



We have two Horse-shoe Bats, distinguished as Larger and 

 Lesser, and they are regarded as the lowest organised of our 

 Bats. Their distinguishing feature as a genus is the absence of 

 the tragus from the ear, and the presence of a leaf-like out- 

 growth of naked skin on the muzzle around the nostrils. The 

 broad forepart of this forms the horse-shoe, a protruding central 

 portion behind the nostrils is known as the sella, and behind it 

 an erect tapering portion is the lancet. There can be little 

 doubt that this extraordinary expansion is no mere ornament, 

 but a sense organ which enables these Bats to execute their 

 marvellous flight through narrow passages. They are able even 

 to distinguish invisible obstacles like glass, and they fly low 

 down among bushes and herbage where they are far more 

 likely to collide than in the upper air. In these respects their 

 motions are different from those of the other Bats. 



The Larger Horse-shoe Bat is a large and rather heavily 

 built Bat whose proportions are only slightly exceeded by the 

 Noctule (page 46), our largest species. The combined length 

 of head and body is about two and a half inches, and of the tail 

 an inch and a quarter. The forearm is two inches or more, 

 and the expansion of the wings covers more than thirteen inches. 

 The large ears are about half an inch broad, narrowing abruptly 

 to the sharp recurved tip ; when laid forward over the face 

 they reach slightly beyond the tip of the muzzle. The lower 



