292 BATS. 



The White Bats. 



Genus Bididwrus. 



As white is a colour but rarelj' met with among the Cliiroptera, we cannot 

 pass over the white bats, wliich are represented only by two species from Central 

 and South America. These bats are allied to the toinb-bats, but have three pairs of 

 lower incisor teeth, and they are also distinguished from other bats by the presence 

 of a peculiar pouch on the under side of the membrane between the legs. The 

 typical wliite bat {Bididurus cdhus) has the fur on the body dark at the base, 

 but the greater portion of each hair, up to the tip, is of a yellowish or creamy- 

 white, while the whole of tlie wing-membranes are pure white. The tirst known 

 specimen was found in Brazil reposing between the fronds of a cocoanut palm. If 

 this be the normal habitat of the species, its coloration may perhaps be a protective 

 one, adapted to resemble the silvery hue of the under-surface of the palm leaves. 

 Here it may be mentioned that albino varieties of dark-coloured bats are occasion- 

 ally met with ; the most recently described example that has come under our notice 

 being a white specimen of a species of Vesperugo {V. capensis), obtained in 1890 

 near Cape Towni. 



The Hare-Lipped Bats. 



Genus Noctilio. 



If the white bats are notewoi-thj^ on account of their colour, the two species of 

 hare-lipped bats, which are likewise Central ami South American forms, are deserv- 

 ing of mention on account of the cui'ious superficial resemblances of their muzzles 

 to those of the Rodents, while at least the ordinaiy species {Nodilio leporinus), 

 which has been known since the time of Linnaeus, is not less remarkable from the 

 peculiar nature of its diet. These bats derive their ortlinary name from their 

 curiously folded upper lip, which is bent upwards in the midiUe line in the form of 

 an inverted V, terminated above bjJ^ the nostrils. The feet and claws are remarkable 

 for their large size. They have 28 teeth, of which there are '\ iucisoi-s, and 4 cheek- 

 teeth on each side. The tii-st, or innermost pair of upper incisor teeth, are of great 

 size, and placed close together so as to conceal the small outer pair ; and as the 

 large ones bite against the single smaller pair of lower incisors, the resemblance to 

 the mouth of a small Rodent, such as a mouse, is very striking. 



These bats appear to be almost omnivorous in their diet. That they would 

 freely eat cockroaches was pro^"ed long ago bj' Mr. R H. Gosse. when in Jamaica ; 

 and it was at the same time shown that they would chew, although not swallow, 

 the flesh of small birds. In 1859, a Mr. Fraser, -sTOting from Ecuador, stated that 

 they had a very peculiar and otfensive iishy smell, and that he had observed them 

 " skimming the bank of the river, every now and then making a dash along, and 

 actually striking the water, catching the minute shrimps as they pass up stream." 

 It was not, however, till 1880, that it was definitely known that they actually 

 caught and fed upon small fish. Professor M'Carthy, who made special investiga- 

 tions to determine the tnith of their alleged fish-eating habits, writes to Mr. J. E. 



