LEAF-NOSED OR BLOOD-SUCKING BATS. 



83. 



a projecting, rounded fold of skin. The tail is a 

 little longer than the body. This creature measures 

 four and a half inches in length, with an expanse of 

 wing of ten inches. Its upper side is a dark brown, 

 nearly black; beneath it is a little lighter, being 

 grayish- brown. 

 Red or New York ^^^ suborder of Smooth-nosed Bats is rep- 

 fiat and Other ""esented in this country by several genera 

 Species ^ species pecuhar to America. The most 



'^ ■ common in all the Atlantic Coast states is 



the Red Bat or New York Bat {Atalapha noveboracensis), 

 which is a busy hunter of flying insects, which it follows so 

 persistently that it frequently flies into rooms in pursuit of its 

 favorite prey. It flies rather slowly but it can change the 

 direction of its flight very rapidly, and its movements in the air 

 are very graceful. Besides this species several others have 

 been observed and described, but so far the descriptions have 

 been principally technical, and little or nothing is known of 

 their habits, except that no North American species seem to be 

 harmful, but on the contrary, as they are all insect-eaters. 



Their principal food consists of Butterflies, Bee- 

 tles, Mosquitoes, etc.; and the majority, probably, 

 also have blood-sucking propensities, attacking for 

 this purpose sleeping birds and mammals, including 

 Man. Though a great many facts have" come to 

 light pertaining to the blood-sucking habit, this pecul- 

 iar trait is still steeped in mystery. The probabil- 

 ities are that all Leaf-nosed Batfe are blood-suckers,: 

 but only under certain conditions. The stories about 

 them are very conflicting, and there is one species of 

 Leaf-nosed Bats which I can not positively connect 

 with any of the accounts. 



The Spaniard Azara, who calls this Bat "Morde- 

 dor," which in English means simply "The Biter," 

 tells us among other things the following: "Some- 

 times they bite the combs of sleeping Chickens tO' 

 suck their blood, and, as a rule the Chickens after- 

 wards die, especially if the wound becomes inflamedr 



VAMPIB> 1 r —Here is presented a strikingly faithful picture of the Vampire with its enormous wings, great ears, lofty nose appendage 

 and frightful gr •'rog-like shape of the body is also clearly shown, as it is fluttering forth at evening time from its sleeping-place in the great 



forest. Monster as it seems to be, the Vampire would not harm anything larger than a night insect. It is not a blood-sucker, like so many of its 

 cousins, but is satisfied with the fruits and bugs it finds in its home in northern Brazil and Guiana. (Phyllostoma spectrum.) 



a thing that nearly always happens. They bite 



Horses, Donkeys, Mules and Cows in the sides, 

 shoulders or neck, for to these parts they can eas- 

 ily attach themselves. I have been bitten in the 

 toes four times, when sleeping in the open air. The 

 wounds which I received in this way, without any 

 pain, were round or oblong, and about one line in 

 diameter, while their depth was so slight that they 

 barely pierced the skin. They became visible 

 through their raised margins. The blood that flowed 

 from each bite would in my estimation amount to 

 an ounce and a half. In Horses and other animals 

 it might be three ounces, and I believe that their 

 wounds would have to be deeper because of their 

 thick skins." 



OLeaf^inoseb or Bloot>*'Suc?iina Bate. 



THIRD DIVISION: Istiophor.4.. 



All sub-orders of this tribe are distinguished by 

 leaf-like complications of the nose, which may as- 

 sume the most varied shapes. 



Blood-sucking Bats are distributed over all conti- 

 nents,' but are 'confined to the torrid and ;temperate 

 zones. Some are found hidden in the depths of great 

 woods, in hollow trees, or among the large leaves of 

 palm-trees or similar plants ; the majority conceal 

 themselves in rocky caverns, ruins and dark vaults 

 or in the roofs of houses. 



