BARBASTELLE. 51 



They are often found hibernating in clusters under house- 

 roofs ; but solitary individuals are also found in hollow trees 

 and similar situations. Should the thermometer register 46 F. 

 or more at any time during the winter, the Long-eared Bat 

 awakes and makes a foraging flight calling attention to his 

 presence by his acute, shrill cry. 



The dental formula is: / f, c \, p , m % 36. 



Barbastelle {Barbastella barbastellus, Schreber). 



One feels inclined to apologise for the poverty of language 

 displayed in the heading above ; though no one accepts re- 

 sponsibility for it the fault lies with the Law of Priority. A 

 strong point in the Linnean System of nomenclature was its 

 binomial character there were two words only in the name of 

 every animal and plant, the first of the two indicating the genus 

 in which it was grouped, and the second peculiar to the species. 

 In recent years the extension of our knowledge of the world's 

 fauna has led to the breaking up of many of the older genera 

 and a regrouping of the species. In some cases the species 

 name has been adopted to denote a new genus, and then the 

 Law of Priority steps in and says the oldest species name must 

 be retained, so that instead of a binomial we get a mere dupli- 

 cation. When this happens as above to be essentially the 

 same as the only " popular " name the species has ever had the 

 result is ludicrous. 



Daubenton, who first described it (1759), called it the Bearded 

 Bat (La Barbastelle) owing to tufts of black bristles on the 

 glandular swellings on the muzzle. It is of slender form with 

 long legs and small feet. The irregularly four-sided ears are 

 relatively large, as broad as long, and united by their bases 

 just behind the muzzle. The outer border has a deep notch ; 

 the lance-shaped tragus is half the length of the ear. The 

 nostrils open in a naked depression. 



