I lO 



THE 15ATS. 



The canines are large. The dental formula 



1*1*2'' 



is = ^2 teeth. The wings are 



short and broad, the short tail included within 

 the flying membrane which terminates behind 



in a right angle, or nearly so. The fur is 

 light gray. 



To the north of the Alps two species are 

 common, the Lesser Horse-shoe Bat {^Rhino- 

 loplms kipposideros), scarcely larger than the 



Fig. 45.— The Greater Horse-shoe Bat {Rhinulophus ftnum a] u in urn 



dwarf bat, and the species represented in fig. 

 45, the Greater Horse-shoe Bat {R. fernmi- 

 equinum). Both are bad fliers, fluttering about 

 near the ground, both are very sensitive to 

 cold and rain, and have their retreats in caves, 

 dry cellars, and beneath the rafters of houses. 

 In a state of freedom they live entirely on 

 insects. In captivity they sometimes show a 

 certain amount of bloodthirstiness, and eat 

 up other bats. 



GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION AND 

 DESCENT OF THE BATS. 



The geographical distribution of the bats 

 presents for two reasons a somewhat confused 

 picture: first, because their natural arrange- 

 ment in families traceable to a common type 

 is still far from having been satisfactorily 

 accomplished; and, secondly, because their 

 power of flight, which, as we have seen, even 



at the present day, makes long migrations 

 possible, must necessarily have contributed 

 to enlarging their domains, and thus to 

 obliterate the evidence as to their original 

 seats. Some not uninteresting facts may, 

 however, be noted. 



The fruit-bats are spread over the whole 

 of the tropical and subtropical parts of 

 Australia and the Old World generally, but 

 are altogether absent in the colder parts of 

 the temperate zones and in America. From 

 Central Africa they extend to Egypt and even 

 to the shores of the Mediterranean, from 

 India to Southern China and Japan, and 

 they are spread over the whole of Australia 

 and the South Sea Islands as far as the 

 Samoan group, with the exception of the 

 Sandwich Islands and New Zealand. Un- 

 questionably this wide distribution is in a 

 large measure due to migrations; perhaps 

 some species have even been transported by 



