THE ZOOLOGIST. 



THIRD SERIES. 



Vol. XL] JANUARY, 1887. [No. J21. 



HORSE-SHOE BATS. 



By the Editor. 



(Plate I.) 



Notwithstanding the close attention which is now-a-clays 

 paid to British Zoology by observers in all parts of the country, 

 the Bats (with two or three exceptions) are still very imperfectly 

 known. Their crepuscular habits, their rapid movements on 

 the wing, and their retired and frequently inaccessible haunts, 

 render them at all times difficult to procure for identification 

 or examination. 



In the last edition of Bell's 'British Quadrupeds' (1874) 



fourteen species are recognised as British, and are placed in 



five different genera. Of these the two Horse-shoe Bats 



belonging to the genus EhmolopJrus are amongst the rarest or 



least known. The generic characters indicated by Bell are as 



follows : — 



2 5-5 



"Incisors -j-, molars rr-?;. Nostrils with two foliaceous 

 4 6-6 



appendages; the posterior one erect and pointed posteriorly, 

 the anterior one horse-shoe shaped, and expanded over the top 

 of the nose. Ears lateral, free ; tragus wanting. Wing-mem- 

 branes extending only to the distal extremity of the tibia ; tail 

 short, enclosed in the membrane." 



The use of the singular leaf-Hke appendage upon the nose 

 has not been satisfactorily determined. GeoftVoy supposed it 



ZOOLOGIST. — JAN. 1887. ^ 



