TYPICAL GROUP. 273 



Its ears are considerably longer than the head. The second genus, Nyctophilua, 

 comprises one species from Australia and a second from New Guinea, which, while 

 possessing the same number of teeth as Hemprich's bat, are distinguished by the 

 possession of a rudimentary nose-leaf. Finally, we have the Californian cave-bat 

 (Antrozous pcdlidus), in which there are only twenty-eight teeth, owing to the 

 reduction of the number of the lower incisors to two pairs (a feature unique among 

 the typical bats), the genus being also distinguished from all the members of the 

 family hitherto mentioned by the ears being disconnected with one another. 



THE PlPISTRELLE, NOCTULE, AND SEROTINE. 



Genus Vesperugo. 



The pipistrelle, noctule, and serotine, of which the first and second are figured 

 among our illustrations, are the three best-known British representatives of the 

 large and widely -distributed genus Vesperugo; the pipistrelle (V. pipistrellus) 

 being the common English bat. With these bats we enter upon the consideration 

 of a group of genera, distinguished from that containing the long-eared bat 

 and its allies by several more or less important features. Among these may 

 be mentioned the simple nature of the nostrils, which are without any trace 

 of groovings or foldings of the skin, while the ears are usually of comparatively 

 small size, and are always quite separate from one another. 



The bats included in the same genus (Vesperugo) as the pipistrelle are very 

 numerous, and vary to a certain extent in personal appearance, and also in the 

 number of their teeth, which is either thirty, thirty-four, or thirty-six. Dr. Dobson 

 says that they may be easily recognised by their relatively stout bodies, their broad 

 and flattened heads and blunt muzzles, as well as by their broad, short, and 

 triangular ears, in which the tragus is usually rather thick and inclined somewhat 

 inwardly. Moreover, their legs are unusually short, and the membrane connecting 

 the legs with the tail almost always has a small supplemental portion situated on 

 the outer side of the spur rising from the heel. 



Certain species of the genus approximate, however, in some of their characters 

 to bats of other groups ; one coming so close in general appearance to the long-eared 

 bats that, without careful examination, it might readily be mistaken for a member 

 of that group. " This genus of bats," observes Dr. Dobson, " probably contains the 

 greatest number of individuals among the Chiroptera. The common bats of all 

 countries, especially of those lying within the tropical and subtropical regions of 

 the northern hemisphere, generally belong to it. ... The colour of the fur is 

 generally dark-brown or black, the extremities of the hairs being of a paler colour 

 on the upper surface, and ashy or whitish beneath." One species of this genus 

 ( V. borealis) has the most northern range of all bats, having been observed flying 

 within the limits of the Arctic circle. 



The pipistrelle, which we take as the first example of the genus, belongs to the 

 typical section of Vesperugo, in which the incisors number f and the premolar teeth 

 are f on either side of the jaws. It is a small species, measuring 1*65 inches in 

 length of head of body, and with a span of wing of about 8|- inches. The fur is 



VOL. i. 18 



