76 MR. W. OSBURN ON THE BATS OF JAMAICA. [Jan. 24, 
pire. I could induce neither old nor young to take anything, 
though I tempted the first with water and the latter with milk. 
The one under glass made efforts to escape by jumping; but the 
existence of the volar membrane along the front of wing makes the 
forearm very unserviceable as a leg. There was a slight motion of the 
ear forwards on any sharp sound, but none of the rapid vibratory 
movement seen in 4, carpolegus. Those in the box with gauze over 
it jumped a little, and then clung in a dark corner ina heap. The 
young were deserted, and remained quietly hanging from gauze. 
They bit fiercely, but could not draw blood, though I held them in 
my hand at once. Their forearms seemed little adapted for walking : 
three or four hours on a flat surface had made the wrists inflamed 
and sore. They uttered no noise, merely opening the mouth 
menacingly. The young, on being set at liberty, clambered about 
till they got hold of some object, and then hung quietly head down- 
wards. From this and their desertion by the old ones in the box, I 
conclude they are sometimes left hanging under circumstances of 
danger. They opened the mouth threateningly when approached, 
and every now and then uttered avery acute sibilant chirp, not loud, 
though audible at a great distance, especially to animals whose ex- 
ternal organs of hearing are so developed. This I take to be the call 
for the mother, as they never uttered it when she was within reach. 
On being hung against the wall, they made no attempt to move from 
the spot. On being taken into the hand, they clung to it. I found 
one climbing to the palm of my hand, even when turned downwards ; 
so that the little Bat hung to it as to the body of the mother: I 
could not shake it off. It was perfectly secure even when I swung 
my extended arm round as quickly as possible, and, what was more 
curious, without the sharp claws penetrating the skin. I covered 
one of the young, which had strayed from the rest, in my hands. It 
felt cold, and seemed to like the warmth; for it searched with its 
nose for the nipple, making a purring noise, very like what Chilo- 
nycteris (No. 5) does on receiving water. 
“They seemed roused to unusual activity about dusk, and became 
quiet at about 10 p.m. 
‘18th Dec.—-In the morning one of the young ones dead. It had 
been killed by hemorrhage in consequence of penis being bitten off. 
Though dead, it was still hanging to the muslin over the box by the 
hind legs. The young and females were all separate, young hanging 
from muslin, and females crouching sulkily in a corner. One of the 
young sucked in greedily little drops of milk I put to its muzzle, 
eagerly searching on my fingers for a nipple. He took several drops 
in this way till some got into his. nostrils and incommoded him. 
Putting two young on the table together, they took each other for 
the mother, poking each other with their noses, and rolling about 
clinging together in a most grotesque way. ‘Two of the females 
drank drops of water presented to them on a feather, eagerly pro- 
truding the pointed tongue a quarter of an inch beyond the muzzle, 
with an action like chewing. They were, with one night’s confine- 
ment, too weak to fly. 
