TYPICAL GROUP. 287 



the genus have the body and wings more or less uniformly coloured; but, as 

 observed by Mr. O. Thomas, the describer of this singular species, many of the 

 smaller bats of the Gambia, belonging to several distinct genera, have dark bodies 

 with white wings. That there is some good reason for this peculiar style of 

 coloration among the Gambian bats is evident, although no explanation has 

 hitherto been offered. With regard to the coloration of Hodgson's bat, it has been 

 shown by the late Mr. Swinhoe that in the Island of Formosa this species is in the 

 habit of hanging suspended on the fruit of the longan tree (Nephelium). " Now 

 this tree," writes Mr. Swinhoe, " is an evergreen, and all the year through some 

 portion of its foliage is undergoing decay, the particular leaves being, in such a 

 stage, partially orange and black. This bat can, therefore, at all seasons suspend 

 itself from its branches, and elude its enemies by its resemblance to the leaf of the 

 tree. It was in August when a specimen was brought to me. It had at that 

 season found the fruit ripe and reddish-yellow, and had tried to escape observation 

 in the semblance of its own tints to those of the fruit." A similar explanation 

 will doubtless hold good with regard to the Indian painted bat, which feeds on 

 plantains, which, when ripe, are of a bright yellow or orange colour, speckled with 

 black, and thus almost exactly similar to the bat. 



With the whiskered bat (V. mystacinus) we resume, and at the same time 

 conclude, our survey of the British representatives of the genus. This bat, while 

 agreeing in the relative size of the feet, and other leading characters, with Natterer's, 

 belongs to a subgroup distinguished by the tragus being straight and more or less 

 blunted at the tip, instead of being acutely pointed and inclining outwards. This 

 bat is of small size, the length of the head and body being only 1J inches, and the 

 spread of the outstretched wings 8 \ inches. The fur on the upper part of the body 

 is dark chestnut, tending to black, and dusky beneath. It takes its name from the 

 fringe of long fine hair on the upper lip. It is a solitary species, although on some 

 occasions a considerable number may be seen together on account of the abundance 

 of food in particular localities. In its mode of flight and general habits it is 

 very similar to the pipistrelle ; hiding during the day in situations as various as 

 are those favoured by different individuals of that species. Its range includes the 

 greater part of Europe, while in Asia it has been found in Syria, the Himalaya, 

 and North China. It may be mentioned that no less than twelve species of the 

 genus Vespertilio are peculiar to the New World, and that the whole of them are 

 characterised by the small size of their feet. 



This bat (Miniopterus schreibersi), which ranges from Germany 

 ' to Japan and Australia, and is the sole representative of its genus, 

 differs from all the preceding forms by the great elevation of the crown of the 

 head above the face. The same feature is found in the South American and West 

 Indian tall-crowned bats (Natalus), of which a head is shown in the figure. Both 

 these bats are distinguished by the presence of a gap in the middle line between 

 the first pair of incisor teeth, and by a second gap between the second incisor and 

 the tusk. The American tall-crowned bats, while agreeing with Vespertilio in the 

 number of their teeth, are further distinguished by the small size of the tragus of the 

 ear. On the other hand, Schreibers' bat has but thirty-six teeth, owing to the 

 absence of the first pair of premolars. 



