2 66 



BATS. 



Whether this was really the explanation of the pause in its flight or not, it seems. 

 certain that this bat does not ordinarily remain very long on the wing. I have 

 often observed that in the early part of the night it alternated its pursuit of 

 insects with short periods of repose in an outhouse. On one occasion, I observed 

 a bat of this species return three times during the evening (from about 8 to 10 P.M.) 

 to a room I happened to be occupying ; and, curiously enough, it always attached 

 itself to precisely the same part of the ceiling. That part of the room, however, 

 was the point furthest away from me, and my presence may have influenced the 

 bat in its selection of the spot." 



In addition to the true leaf -nosed bats, of which there are fully twenty species, 

 there are several more or less closely allied kinds which are referred by zoologists 

 to distinct genera. The only one of these we shall notice here is the flower-nosed 

 bat (Anthops ornatus), discovered a few years ago in the Solomon Islands, and 



remarkable for the extraordinary develop- 

 ment of its nose-leaf This appendage as- 

 sumes the form of a large rosette, covering 

 the whole front of the face, reaching from 

 eye to eye, and extending downwards nearly 

 to the upper lip. Above the eyes the upper 

 border of this rosette terminates in three 

 stalked balls, while the remainder consists of 

 overlapping furbelow-like expansions of skin ; 

 the obliquely-placed nostrils appearing some- 

 what below its centre. It is difficult to 

 believe that such an extraordinary structure 

 is solely connected with the sense of touch, 

 and we should rather assume that in this 

 case the great development of the rosette is to 

 a considerable extent an ornamental feature. 

 Mr. O. Thomas remarks that the discovery 



of such a form in the Solomon group is a most interesting and unexpected 

 fact, since oceanic islands are generally characterised by the large proportion 

 arid great specialty of their frugivorous as compared with their insectivorous bats, 

 a rule otherwise well exemplified in this archipelago. 



FACE OF THE FLOWEK-NOSED BAT (4 times nat. 



size). After Thomas, Proc. Zool. Soc., 1888. 



THE FALSE VAMPIRE BATS AND THEIR ALLIES. 

 Family NYCTERID^. 



Certain bats agreeing with the preceding group in the possession of a nose- 

 Jeaf, and found in the tropical and subtropical parts of Africa, India, and the 

 Malayan region, are (from the blood-sucking propensities of at least one of the 

 species) commonly known as vampires ; but since that term is exceedingly likely 

 to lead to confusion with the true American vampires, they are better designated 

 false vampires. The five species of these bats, together with seven of another 

 genus, collectively constitute a distinct family. 



