48 



ORDER CHIROPTERA— GENUS VESPERTILIO. 



wards the south than the north; it is also found in Germany and Hun- 

 gary ; its sojourn is the trunks of trees, and it is said not to associate with 

 its congeners. It is nearly the size of the Long-eared Bat, (No. 5,) but 

 the ears are shorter, not united, and without a lobe ; the membranes, 

 likewise, are quite naked, and the tip of the tail free. The muzzle is 

 rather long, pointed, and naked, the odoriferous glands, very large and 

 whitish, are oblong; the teeth very white. The fur is long and copious. 

 The markings, in which the sexes agree, are reddish-brown above, and 

 silvery white beneath : in the young, silvery-grey above, and shining 

 white beneath ; the membranes are yellowish-brown and diaphanous ; 

 the ears dull yellow. The entire length is between three and four 

 inches, the width about eleven. — (Fig. in Temm. Mon. II. pi. 50.) 



13. V. MUR1NUS THE MOUSE-EARED BAT. 



The Murinus of Linna?us, GeofFroy, and many others, is the Myotis of 

 Beclrstein and Kuhl ; Pennant designated it the Common Bat of this coun- 

 try in his Synopsis, not in his British Zoology, and, as we have already 

 stated, the Pipistrelle is the most common amongst us, for the English 

 name of the Murinus we translate Bechstein's appellation. This Mouse- 

 Eared Bat is, in fact, very rare in Britain, having been found only, we 

 believe, in the gardens of the British Museum. It is the largest, not only of 

 British, but also of European species. Its face is nearly quite naked, the 

 nostrils open laterally/and the upper lip overhangs on each side. The ears 

 incline backward, are very distant, lobeless, perfectly oval, and naked ; the 

 tragus shaped like the willow leaf, but broad at the base : the odoriferous 

 glands are of a citron yellow colour. The fur is long, smooth, and bi- 

 coloured throughout. The superior parts of the body are brownish-grey, 

 reddish-grey, and pure grey, according to the age of the animal; the hairs 

 being black at the root ; all the inferior parts are pure white or yellowish- 

 white, no difference occurring in the sexes. The entire length of the 

 large animals is somewhat more than five inches, and the expanse nearly 

 sixteen. The adult of the first year , with the fur shorter, and rarer, es- 

 pecially about the neck, and the markings less distinct, constitutes the 

 Murinus of many modern authors. This animal is found in the temperate 

 parts of Europe, and in North Africa. The female has usually two 

 young ones, and they are not sociable ; they bite cruelly, not sparing one 

 another ; they persecute the smaller kinds, and prefer a town to a country 

 life ; they seldom show themselves till it is nearly dark. — (Fig. in Bonap. 

 Faun. Ital.) 



Second, European Bats, unknown in Britain. 



14. V. BRACHYOTOS THE SHORT-EARED BAT. 



This Short-eared Bat, not that of Pennant, (British Zoology,) was 

 found dead in the streets of Abbeville by M. Baillon, all of whose sub- 

 sequent endeavours to discover another like it have been fruitless. Its 

 forms are interesting, and have been detailed by M. Temminckin his mo- 

 nograph. Its muzzle is obtuse and naked, its forehead depressed ; the 

 ears are very small, much broader than high, triangular, about a line and 

 a half ; the tragus is very short, obtuse, and hid under the fur ; the tail is 

 short. The four upper incisors are in pairs ; there are four molars above 

 and five below, pointed. The fur is soft, silky, and of medium length, of 

 a very vivid fawn colour above, the root of the hairs at the same time 

 being quite black ; the forehead, crown, nape, and upper part of the 

 neck, marked with a broad black patch, the hair being shorter than else- 

 where ; the muzzle is naked, as also the upper part of the ears, their base 

 hid in the fur. The inferior parts are less red than the upper, but the 

 roots of the hair are quite black. The membranes are naked, tail of 

 medium length, and white. Length, tvvo inches seven lines; expanse, 

 seven and a half inches. 



15. V. SCHREIBERSII.— SCHREIBERS' BAT. 



This Bat was discovered by M. Schreibers in the subterranean cavi- 

 ties of the mountains of Banat in Hungary, and is thus described by M. 

 Kuhl. The head is small, the forehead elevated, the muzzle full ; the 

 ears small, and shorter than the head, broad, straight, roundish at the 

 point ; tragus lance-shaped. The fur of the superior parts is ash-grey, of 

 the lower light grey, often yellowish-white ; the thumb-nail is white. 

 Entire length, three and a half inches ; width, eleven ; the measurements, 

 however, were taken from a single individual. 



16. V. LIMNOPHILUS.— THE NIGHT-BAT. 



The muzzle of this Bat is very short, broad, obtuse, and nearly wholly 

 covered on both lips with long diverging radiating hairs ; the ears of me- 

 dium size, quite oval, with a lobe or prolongation forwards ,- the tragus is 

 short, straight, broad, and rounded at the point ; the tail short, its tip 

 free ; the interfemoral membrane supplied underneath with very fine hairs. 

 The odoriferous glands are large, yellow, and placed above the eyes. 



The fur is soft and silky ; in the male, the superior parts of the body, and 

 most of the sides of the neck, are mouse-coloured ; in the female, inclined 

 to russet ; the chin, front of the neck, and inferior parts, are white at the 

 point, and black at the base ; the abdomen pure white. The white tip 

 of the hairs is prolonged according to the age of the individual. When 

 a year old they are both indifferently clad, and are above of a dull brown 

 colour, below bluish-black ; abdomen whitish. The total length is 

 about four inches, width eleven. This species was introduced to notice 

 by M. Temminck in his recent monography, and he accounts for its re- 

 maining so long unknown from its habits, appearing only when the night 

 has set in, and flying with extreme velocity. It flies generally also over 

 the surface of the water near the overhanging trees and brushwood. It 

 is common in Holland. 



17. V. ORSINII ORSINl'S BAT. 



To the Prince of Musignano we are indebted for our acquaintance 

 with this Bat, which was found in the caverns of Mont Corno 8000 feet 

 above the level of the sea. From its dental formula he proposed to form 

 a new subgenus of it ; but from the great variability to which the teeth 

 are subject, we deem it preferable, following M. Temminck, to main- 

 tain it in a situation at once more simple and suitable. The head of this 

 species is short and very globular ; the nose obtuse ; the nostrils approxi- 

 mated ; the forehead prominent ; the eyes are hid under the fur, and are 

 placed near the ears. These appendages are small, and nearly as broad 

 as long, roundish, and more than a third shorter than the head ; though 

 so wide apart, they are united by a membrane ; the tragus is slender, 

 filiform, and one-half the size of the auricle. The mouth is cleft to 

 ttie angle under the eye, and the face is clad with hair, which inclines up- 

 wards. The wings are very long, the thumb-nail very small. The tail, 

 which is much longer than the body, is exceedingly stout, and envelop- 

 ed in the membrane at its tip. The teeth are precisely the same as in 

 the auritus. The fur is soft, cottony, abundant, and nearly of a uni. 

 form colour over the body ; above it is of a marron brown, beneath of a 

 light-grey. The entire length is four inches, two of them being occu- 

 pied by the tail ; the extreme width thirteen. This animal is the Mini- 

 oplero dell' Orsini of the Prince (Fig. in Temm. Mon. II. pi. 49.) 



18. V. CORNUTUS THE HORNED BAT. 



The Horned Bat is smaller than the long-eared, but the ears are pro- 

 portionably longer, and the body smaller in comparison of the extent of 

 wings. The muzzle is short, broad, and obtuse ; the nostrils somewhat 

 tubular ; the mouth large ; the ears conical ; one inch four lines long ; 

 precisely the length of the body, and united in front ; the tragus is half 

 the length of the ear, lancet-shaped, and so disposed that the two look 

 like a pair of ears. There is a fringe of fine hairs along the external 

 edge of the interfemoral membrane. The fur is long and more abun- 

 dant than in most other European species ; a white moustache orna- 

 ments the lip. The superior parts are of a brownish-black colour, the 

 lower bluish-black ; the abdomen appears bluish-grey, from the tips of 

 the hair being white ; the membranes are blackish. The length is three 

 inches and one line, the breadth nine and a half inches, (Danish measure.) 

 This species was discovered by the celebrated Naturalist Faber, who cap- 

 tured an individual in Jutland. 



19. V. CAPACCINI THE CAPACCINI BAT. 



The Prince of Musignano describes this new species, which was caught 

 in Sicily, in nearly the following terms. The tragus is slender ; the 

 thumb-nail large and strong ; the feet robust, enveloped in a [thick in- 

 terfemoral membrane, well clad, though not very extensive. Its head 

 is lar^e, the muzzle conical and obtuse ; the eyes are almost three times 

 nearer the ears than the nostrils ; the mouth is not remarkably large ; 

 the ears are about once and a half longer than they are broad, and are 

 about two-thirds the length of the head ; their form is oval lance shaped ; 

 the muzzle and lips are supplied with scattered hairs, which are abun- 

 dant between the eyes. There is a great gland under the chin. The 

 interfemoral membrane is cut obliquely in form of a triangle, leaving the 

 feet free, as is also the point of the tail ; it is clad, to half its extent, 

 both above and below, with long hairs ; the feet also are covered with 

 hairs, which are white, as are the nails. The fur is soft and bushy, and 

 of a cinnamon colour : the under parts are yellowish-red ; the skin is red- 

 dish-brown. The total length is three inches two lines, the breadth 

 ten inches (Fig. in Bonap. Faun. Ital.) 



20. V. MEGAPODUS— THE LARGE-FOOTED BAT. 



The habitat of this Bat is Sardinia, whence M. Cantraine has sent 

 many specimens to Leyden. It is remarkable for its feet, which, like 



