62 MR. W. ORBURN ON THE BATS OF JAMAICA. [Jan. 24, 
dawn. The beating of their wings, with the occasional squeaking call, 
is quite familiar to me as the first sound of morning. I kept one in 
confinement for two days., It would eat nothing—not even drink. 
It uttered the ‘click-click’ with a gaping mouth, if disturbed, the 
whole body being jerked. The ear shaded the eye when alive, and 
was a little raised when touched. I could not by any sharp sound 
produce the vibrating motion very discernible in Aretibeus carpolegus 
under a neighbouring glass. I took off the tumbler, and put in its 
place a bell-shaped lamp-shade. The Bat instantly seemed aware 
there was an opening at the top; for, instead of lying perfectly mo- 
tionless as under the tumbler, it woke up immediately, and made 
violent efforts to thrust his head under the receding rim; when that 
would not do, it tried to hook its claws into the glass and climb to 
the hole: a constant vibrating motion of the nose, as it raised its 
head, was visible the whole time. 
‘«‘ The volar membrane folded very completely behind the forearm, 
and so as to form a much more serviceable fore leg than appears to 
be the case with Arctibeus. This specimen was a male: reproductive 
organs conspicuous ; testes large. There were only three incisors in 
the upper jaw, two lateral, longer than single middle—an accidental 
formation doubtless; lower incisors had edges level and doubly 
notched; molars jagged and double-edged ; first pair of lesser molars 
very minute.” 
‘“« Rowington Park (Vere), 28th March, 1859. 
“‘ Vast numbers of these little Bats inhabit the shingled roof of 
this house. It is an unusually favourable place for observing them. 
The rooms are ceiled. A store-room without ceiling communi- 
cates directly with the roof, whence a view can be obtained of a 
large part over the ceiling of the other rooms. A crack in the 
boarding that crossed a gable let in sufficient light for easy obser- 
vation, and was besides of great importance to the Bats as their 
principal avenue of communication with the outer world. I often 
observed them during the day exactly as Goldsmith’s line expresses, 
‘Lazy bats in drowsy clusters cling ;’ for, what seems surprising, 
notwithstanding the extreme heat of the situation—shingles exposed 
to the sun (and it was disagreeably hot and confined where I stood, 
12 or 15 feet below), the Bats clung in complete clusters. I counted 
fourteen little heads in a mass about the size of a turnip. But they 
are not all asleep: now and then a wing is stretched wlth drowsy 
enjoyment ; and the luxury King James thought too great for sub- 
jects, and ought to be reserved for kings, is largely indulged in by 
Bats. First one and then another wakes up, and, withdrawing one 
leg and leaving himself suspended by the other alone, adroitly uses 
the foot at liberty as a comb, with a rapid effective movement dress- 
ing the fur of the under part and head—an action far from ungrace- 
ful. The foot is then cleaned quickly with the teeth or tongue, and 
restored to its first use. Then the other leg does duty. Perhaps the 
hairs with which the foot is set may aidto this end. I often have seen 
them do this in confinement; and probably the numerous Bat-flies with 
which they are infested may be the cause of extra dressing. It is 
