80 



THE WING-HANDED ANIMALS. 



tions show. This explorer one winter found forty- 

 five sleeping Bats in a cavern. They were, for the 

 most part, Long-eared Bats and Lesser Horseshoe 

 Bats all of which he captured and placed in a spa- 

 cious room, where they were left to settle down at 

 their own pleasure. A few days later the naturalist 

 wished to introduce his collection to a friend, and 

 found to his great surprise that six of the Horseshoe 

 Bats had been devoured, nothing being left of them 

 but the claws and the tips of their wings ; while one 

 had its head mutilated in a shocking manner. Nu- 

 merous blood spots, bloody muzzles and swollen 

 stomachs seemed to point out the Long-eared Bats 

 as the murderers, and when one of them was killed 

 and its stomach examined, every doubt on this score 

 was set at rest. The wings of the Long-eared Bats 



WELWITSCH'S BAT. This Bat, first discovered by the late Dr. Welwitsch. is noteworthy for the bright 



and variegated coloring of its wings which near the body are brown dotted with black, and beyond this blackish 

 brown with curved lines of yellow dots, while bands of dark orange dotted with black follow the course of the forearm 

 and three of the fingers, ft inhabits the vicinity of Angola. (Scotophilus •welwitschii.) 



showed fresh wounds near the body, whose margins 

 had a swollen appearance ; and these Bats were sus- 

 pended from the ceiling in clusters, while the Horse- 

 shoe Bats had retired singly to the darkest nooks and 

 corners. The conclusion from these facts is very 

 simple. The two species were not on friendly terms 

 and had given each other battle during the night. 

 While the Long-eared Bats were enjoying their first 

 sweet slumber, the Horseshoe Bats had come and 

 sucked their blood ; the wounded Bats during the 

 regular interval of their nightly slumbers had 

 avenged themselves and devoured the culprits for 

 their evil deeds. 



An inhabitant of Grusia told the same naturalist 

 that his pigeons often received small wounds with 



raised edges during the night, a thing he was at a 

 loss to explain ; Kolenati believes them to have 

 been caused by the Horseshoe Bat. Hence we 

 conclude that Europe also possesses genuine Vam- 

 pires, though they are rather harmless on the whole, 

 and do not inspire us with dread and horror. 

 The Greater The Greater Horseshoe Bat {RJmiolo- 

 Horseshoe phus fcrrum-equinum) is still more com- 

 Bat - mon. Its length is two inches, exclusive 



of the tail, which measures nearly an inch and a half. 

 The wings have an expanse of thirteen inches. This 

 Bat inhabits the greater part of central and all of 

 southern Europe, and has been found in the Leb- 

 anon Mountains in Asia. In the mountains it is 

 seen in summer at an elevation of 6,000 feet or even 

 higher. Kolenati believes that it also is a blood- 

 sucker. One sees it at 

 night fluttering about in 

 deep valleys, trying to at- 

 tach itself to Roe-bucks 

 and Chamois with this 

 purpose in view. It also 

 roams about among sleep- 

 ing Squirrels, and though 

 it has never been proven 

 guilty of sucking blood, 

 its actions are certainly 

 highly suspicious. 



Other There are a few 

 Groups other interesting 

 of Bats, groups among 

 the Bats. The Megader- 

 ma contain one species 

 which is said not only to 

 suck blood, but also tc 

 feed upon small Frogs. 

 These Bats are distin- 

 guished by a triple ap- 

 pendage on the nose, by 

 large ears united by their 

 inner margins over the 

 forehead, and by a long 

 ear-flap. 

 The Lyre Bat (Mcgader- 

 tna lyra), which may be considered one of the best 

 typical examples of this genus, owes its name to its 

 nasal appendage, which somewhat resembles a lyre. 

 Another group are the Rhinopoma. Their nasal 

 ornament is simple, consisting of one erect, lancet- 

 shaped leaf. The ears are also united over the fore- 

 head and of moderate size, while the tail is very 

 long for a Bat. 



To this group belongs the Egyptian Rhinopome 

 {Rhinopoma microphyllum) . It is a very small ani- 

 mal, whose most remarkable feature is its long, thin 

 tail. It consists of eleven vertebrae and reaches far 

 beyond the flying membrane. The creature is found 

 in Egypt in great numbers, especially in deserted 

 monuments and in artificial and natural caverns. 



