Whitaker: Notes on the Breeding Habits of Bats. 79 
was especially noticeable if the bat was viewed sideways. The 
skin of the bat, as well as the wing's, etc., grew steadily darker 
and darker in colour, and at the end of three weeks it was 
almost black, except on the belly, which was very dark purplish 
flesh colour (see Plate XI). The hair first commenced to grow 
on the shoulders and back, then on the head and chin, and 
lastly on the breast. The belly was still almost naked at the 
time of its death, which occurred when it was thirty-three 
days old. 
The other baby bat which, it will be remembered, was only 
born one day later, lived until it was forty-three days old, but it 
hardly grew at all, and at the time of its death was blind, naked, 
and almost unchanged from the day it was born. That it should 
survive so long when evidently deriving insufficient nutriment 
from its mother, who was in bad health during the whole of the 
time, is a wonderful indication of the extraordinary amount of 
vitality possessed by these creatures. Both mothers were fed 
almost exclusively on mealworms during the whole of the time, 
so that it was evidently not in any way a question of diet. 
This great difference in the rate of growth between the two 
young ones in captivity indicates that much depends upon the 
state of the parent’s health, and it is quite possible that, in a 
state of nature, growth may be even more rapid than it was 
in the case of the more healthy of these two young ones. 
I found the association between the young bats and their 
parents not nearly so close as I had anticipated. When they 
were but a few days old, I not infrequently found them hanging 
quite alone several inches away from their respective mothers, 
and this applies to the youngster which was quite well and 
growing fast at the time, as well as to the one which was 
certainly from the first somewhat neglected by its mother. 
After they were a couple of weeks old I often found them at the 
opposite side of the cage to their mothers. This separation 
did not seem to cause the young ones any trouble or uneasiness, 
for they would sleep thus contententedy for many hours without 
showing any signs of anxiety. Often I should find the two 
young ones asleep touching one another. 
When touched or disturbed, or when wanting their mothers, 
they would lift themselves well up on the wrists, and raising 
the head very high, turn it anxiously about from side to side, 
uttering a deliberate chirrup resembling the soft smacking of 
one’s lips, which was very faint when the creatures were young, 
but steadily grew in power as the days went by. This noise 
1907 March rf. 
