TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 69 



esque farm, and he met single 

 specimens along the creeks cling- 

 ing to the branch of some shady 

 tree. Whether these were of the 

 same species as ours, I am unable 

 to say, at any rate, it is a very 

 rare bat to procure nowadays, as 

 the haunts of such bats are gen- 

 erally inaccessable and hard to 

 fiiid. Prom general appearances 

 it seems to belong in the class of 

 vampires, on account of its extra- 

 ordinary large size as compared 



killers destroy vast numbers of all 

 sort of insects including beetles, 

 besides, vast numbers of mosqui- 

 toes, flies ets., and als9 in absence 

 of such, perhaps they feed on 

 fruit and other substances — un- 

 like our other bat, which feeds 

 almost exclusively, on nocturnal 

 insects, gnats, and mosquitoes. 



Besides the teeth to grab and 

 chew the insects up, all bats have 

 an exceedingly .sharp eyesight, — 

 which enables them to catch their 



A Large Cave Bat From the San Geronimo Mountains 



with our common small bat specie, 

 v/hich however, has the same an- 

 atomical arrangements of the 

 teeth, and the most interesting 

 part of the large species is its 

 head and the long,, slightly curved 

 teeth, which are rounded at the 

 apex and serve to masticate their 

 insect food. The photograph here 

 was taken, after the outer mouth 

 parts had been artificially retrac- 

 ed, showing both rows of teeth 

 nicely. No wonder these insect 



prey in pitch dark nights, or in 

 dark cavities ; and next to the 

 eyes, the ears also are of immense 

 help to these as yet obscure ani- 

 mals; and Dr.. Campbell who has 

 had nearly a life long exnerience 

 v/ith the bat, has made some very 

 interesting observations on the 

 acoustical apparatus of this noc- 

 turnal mammal — in the way of the 

 bat distinctly discerning each in- 

 sect specie by its peculiar flight 

 and wing sounds. 



