1918 | Grinnell: A Synopsis of the Bats of California 225 
INTRODUCTION 
The paper here presented is the result of the writer’s endeavor 
to gather together, and to add to, the facts already known concerning 
the distribution and habits of the California representatives of one 
of the most interesting, though least known, groups of mammals, 
the bats. The records of palaeontology show the great antiquity of 
the order to which the bat belongs; indeed, the bat had become master 
of the air long before man walked upright. The first fire the cave man 
lighted in his rocky refuge revealed to him the ‘‘little upside-down 
bat’’ clinging to the roof of his cavern, and doubtless he knew more 
of its habits than we do today. In the course of ages, as man with- 
drew himself more and more from contact with the wild creatures 
and became more imaginative, he grew to fear this haunter of caves 
and dweller in darkness. Shakespeare but voiced the popular senti- 
ment of his day when he elassed the bat with toads, snakes, and newts, 
a fit ingredient for the witches’ brew. In reality, however, the bat is 
a warm-blooded, friendly little creature, as deserving of our good will 
as the bird whose place he takes at twilight, when he skims the air 
for those insects which escape the vigilance of the bird by reason of 
their time of flight. 
The number of students of natural history within our state is 
rapidly increasing and it is hoped that by turning their attention 
more generally toward our bats, this paper may be the means of 
extending our knowledge of these animals far beyond the limits of 
the present summary. The facts gathered together here have been 
derived from the following sources: All the available published liter- 
ature; the data attached to specimens ; the many volumes of collectors’ 
manuscript field notes on file in the California Museum of Vertebrate 
Zoology; and the writer’s own study of specimens in the Museum 
and of live bats in the field. As a rule, the source of facts cited on 
authority is designated. All specimens listed are contained in the 
Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, except where their location is other- 
wise indicated. 
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 
For permission to examine the collections under their charge and 
to make use of data derived from them, the writer is indebted to 
Dr. Charles H. Gilbert and Professor John O. Snyder of Leland Stan- 
