100 KHINOLOPHID.E. 



insects, especially Coleoptera, which, from remains found in their 

 stomachs, seem to constitute a very large proportion of their food. 



From whatever point of their structure they may be considered, 

 the Ehinolophidse are evidently the most highly organized of insec- 

 tivorous Bats. In them the osseous and cutaneous systems reach 

 the most perfect development. Compared with theirs the bones of 

 the extremities and the volar membranes of other Bats appear 

 coarsely formed, and even their teeth seem less perfectly fitted to 

 crush the hard bodies of insects. The very complicated nasal mem- 

 branes, which evidently act as delicate organs of special perception 

 akin to the sense of touch, here reach their highest development in 

 Chirojptera ; and the differences in their form afford valuable cha- 

 racters in enabling us to distinguish the different species which 

 agree together remarkably in dentition, and in the form and relative 

 lengths of the bones of their extremities, as well as in the colour 

 and distribution of their fur, which rarely extends upon the mem- 

 branes. 



In their habits they appear to differ from other insectivorous Bats 

 without nasal appendages, inhabiting the same regions, by coming 

 out later in the evening, or when the sun has completely gone below 

 the horizon. This peculiarity is probably connected with their pos- 

 session of special organs of touch in the complicated nose-leaf, and 

 delicately formed ears and membranes, which may permit them to 

 commence and continue their hunt for insect prey at a time when 

 other Bats have retired to their sleeping-places. 



Hah. Temperate and tropical parts of the eastern hemisphere, 

 from Ireland to New Ireland. As yet no species has been recorded, 

 with certainty, from any part of the Polynesian Subregion. 



Subfam. I. RHINOLOPHINiE. 



First toe with two, remaining toes with three joints each ; ilio- 

 pectineal spine not connected by bone with the antero-inferior sur- 

 face of the ilium. 



1. RHINOLOPHUS. 



Rhinoloplius, Geoffroy, Besm. Nouv. Diet. WHist. Nat. 1803, xix. 



p. 383; Bonaparte, Saygio di una distrib. a.nini. vertebr. 1831, p. 16; 



Peters, MB. Akad. Berl. 1871, p. 303; Dobson, Monoyr. Asiat. 



Chiropt. p. 37 (1876). 

 Aquias, Phyllotis, Rhinolophus, Gray, P. Z. S. 1866, p. 81. 



Nose-leaf very complicated, consisting of three distinct portions 

 — anterior, central, and posterior ; the anterior horizontal portion 

 is horseshoe-shaped, usually angularly emarginate in front, contain- 

 ing within its circumference the nasal orifices and the central erect 

 nasal process ; the posterior nose-leaf is triangular, erect, with cells 

 on its anterior surface ; the central process rises between and behind 

 the nasal orifices, is flattened anteriorly, and posteriorly sends back- 



