FAMILY F RUCTIVORA. THE BAT TRIBE. 



13 



being swollen and bloody. The third day afterwards we rode the horse, 

 without any ill effects." 



We have only space to name the other species : P. Macrophyllum, P. 

 Elongatum, P. Crenulatum, P. Brevicaudatum, P. Sovicinum, P. Cirr- 

 hosum, and P. Bidens. All these have tails. 



Bats of tliis genus without tails embrace the Spectre Bat (P. Spec- 

 trum), Plate 4. This animal is about five and a half inches in length, and 

 twenty inches in extent. The fur of this species is soft, of a chestnut 

 colour above, and reddish-yellow beneath. Geoffroy considers this species 

 to be the Andera guaou,of Piso, who says it is as large as a Dove. It is 

 generally held by Zoological writers that this is the species referred to by 

 Condamine as the Bats which destroyed the cattle introduced by the Mis- 

 sionaries at Boija, and also those mentioned by Ulloa as being very common 

 at Carthagena, and so much given to blood-sucking as to be a great scourge 

 to the natives ; but no satisfactory relation has been hitherto given as to 

 the other species besides P. Hastatum, in reference to this point. It can 

 hardly be considered, though generally so esteemed, as the Bat which bled 

 Captain Stedman so profusely at Surinam, as it, as well as all the other 

 individuals of this genus, are natives of South America only. We may 

 here add that though several recent travellers in South America have 

 recorded instances of the bloodthirstiness of some of the Bats of that 

 Continent, yet they all reject the exaggerated statements which earlier 

 writers have published respecting them. We refer to the works of 

 Denman, Ischudi, Graham, and Azara. 



The names of other species are P. Planirostre, P. Jamaicense, P. Brachy- 

 otum, P. Perspicillatum, P. Superciliatum, P. Lineatum, P. Rotundum, 

 and P. Lilium. Without tails. 



NOCTILIO. The Bats of this genus are very remarkable for the cleft in 

 the upper lip, which from its resemblance to that of Hares has given rise to 

 the name of Hare-lipped Bats, sometimes applied to them. Cuvier and 

 Temminck include them all in a single species. 



NYCTERIS. The animals composing this genus are distinguished from 

 the others of the same family by the ease and elegance of their flight, and 

 by the power they possess of inflating their skin with air so as to render 

 themselves specifically lighter, in which respect they have some analogy to 

 Birds. This curious property was pointed out by Geoffrey St. Hilaire ; 

 the termination of the tail in a bifid piece like a reversed T is also a pecu- 

 liar character of this genus, and distinguishes it from all the other Bats. 



NYCTICEIUS. This genus, founded by Rafinesque, so nearly approaches 

 the Vespertiliones, except in the disposition of the incisive teeth, that 

 Temminck almost doubts the propriety of separating them. 



PLECOTUS. The individuals forming this genus were separated from the 

 Vespertiliones by Geoffrey, in consequence of the connection of the roots of 

 their auricles, and from the greater number of their molar teeth. 

 Two species we shall briefly notice : 



The Eared Bat (P. Vulgaris), which is the smallest of the Bat kind, 

 measuring not more than an inch and three-quarters in length, and seven 

 in breadth : it is found both in towns and in the country, hiding itself in 

 old towers, where it lives alone. Its cry is generally feeble, but when dis- 

 turbed becomes distinct and shrill. It is found throughout Europe and in 

 Africa. Two varieties are observed of this species : viz. first the Egyptian, 

 which is much smaller than ours, and has its fur of a more ferruginous 

 colour, and the last vertebra of the tail more detached from the membrane ; 

 and second, the Austrian, which is much larger and of a darker colour. 



The Barlastellus (P. Barbastellus) measures about four inches long and 

 eleven wide ; it is found in houses ; lives in company with the Pipistrelle 

 Bats, and hybernates with them. It has a very fetid smell. It is found 

 in France, though not very commonly, still less frequently in Germany, 

 especially towards the north, occasionally in England. Some naturalists 

 have elevated this species into a distinct genus. 



RHINOLOPHUS Horse-shoe Bat. This genus belongs to the insectivorous 

 tribe of Bats, its first finger or index having only a single joint or phalanx. 

 It is one of the most remarkable kind of Bats, and is distinguished by 



the great size of its ears, and by the complication of its nasal apparatus. 

 But that which distinguishes it from all other genera of its family is the 

 existence upon the pubes of a pair of warty teats, besides the true teats 

 upon the breast. These, according to Kuril's observation, are deficient in 

 the first year of the animal's life, in the second are extremely small, and 

 only in the third year acquire their proper size ; but, though connected 

 with reproduction, he has never been able to find any lactiferous glands 

 near them. The auricles are very simple, consisting merely of a large 

 gristle, but without any opercule as in the other insectivorous Bats, which 

 renders them deaf at pleasure, by shutting up the auditory passage; and 

 hence it is that, during daytime, they bury themselves in the deepest holes 

 and most private recesses. The imperfection of this organ is, however, 

 fully compensated by the remarkable development of the nose. Its external 

 cartilages or gristles are disposed and folded so as to form a funnel, which 

 may more easily catch and conduct the scent to the interior of the nose ; 

 the nostrils themselves have a circular or oval form, and are placed at the 

 bottom of the funnel, the expanded upper part of which is bounded in 

 front and on the sides by a fold or folds of membrane which assume the 

 form of a horse-shoe, whence is derived the English name of the genus ; 

 posteriorly it is bounded by one or two membranes which assume various 

 forms. This disposition, although found in others of the same family, is 

 most fully developed in the animals of this genus. The thickness of the 

 lip arises from the numerous muscular fibres which lie close together 

 and run in different directions. They remain during daytime in the deepest 

 holes, and come out at night in search of insects. They are of various sizes. 

 The Horse-shoe Bats are arranged into three classes : viz., 1, those with 

 the upper nasal membrane erect and spear-shaped ; 2, those with the upper 

 nasal membrane stretched transversely ; and 3, those with the upper nasal 

 membrane transverse and a pouch on the forehead. 1. The Singk-speared 

 Horse-slioe Bat (R. Unihastatus), Double-speared Horse-shoe Bat (R. Bihas- 

 tatus), both natives of Europe, the latter common in England ; the Trident 

 Horse-shoe Bat (R. Trideos), a native of Egypt, and was discovered by 

 Geoffrey in tombs and caves ; the Lesser Horse-shoe Bat (R. Minor), native 

 of Java. 2. The Noble Horse-sJwe Bat (R. Nobilis), the Masked Horse-shoe 

 Bat (R. Larvatus), the Common Horse-shoe Bat (R. Vulgaris), the Deformed 

 Horse-shoe Bat (R. Deformis), all natives of Java ; Commerson's Horse-shoe 

 Bat (R. Commersonii), native of Madagascar ; the Crowned Horse-shoe Bat 

 (R. Diadema), a native of the isle of Timor; and the Ridge-nosed Horse-shoe 

 Bat (R. Clivosus), which lives in holes in walls and rocks, and is a native 

 of Africa. 3. The Pouched Horse-shoe Bat (R. Speoris), a native of the 

 island of Timor. 



RHINOPOMA. Two species of the animals forming this genus are : The 

 Microphyllus, which measures two inches in length ; the tail an inch more ; 

 auricles nearly half an inch long ; expanse of wings seven inches and a third. 

 They are found in the lowest chambers of the Pyramids near Cairo. 



The Carolinense, two inches in length ; the tail an inch and a half more ; 

 expanse of the wings eight inches. Is a native of Carolina. 



TAPHOZOUS dwellers in tombs. This genus was formed by Geoffrey St. 

 Hilaire on a specimen found by him in the Egyptian Catacombs ; the tail, 

 when the animal suspends itself at roost, seems to project beyond the 

 margin of the interfemoral membrane ; it is, however, only sheathed by it, 

 and when the membrane is expanded in flight it slips off, and the tail is no 

 longer seen. 



The species are T. Perforatus, found in the deep caverns at Ombos, and 

 in the tombs of the kings at Thebes ; T. Lepturus, a. native of Surinam ; 

 T. Mauritiamis, native of the Isle of France; T. Longimanus, common in 

 dark store-rooms in Calcutta; and T. Rufus, common in Pennsylvania. 

 Godman mentions, on the authority of Titian Peale, a remarkable instance 

 of maternal affection in one of this species. " In June 1823, a boy caught 

 a young Red Bat, which he took home with him. Three hours afterwards, 

 in the evening, as he was conveying it to the museum in his hand, whilst 

 passing near the place where it was caught, the mother made her appear- 

 ance, followed the boy for two squares, flying round him, and finally alighted 

 on his breast, such was her anxiety to save her offspring. Both were 



