164 



BATS 



down to the foot; the tail is long, and sometimes extends 

 a short distance beyond the interfemoral membrane. On 

 the whole, the bats of this Family form an astonishing ex- 

 hibit of facial oddities. All save a few species are confined 

 to South America. 



The California Leaf-Nosed Bat^ may be taken as a 

 very modest example, because it bears what is really a very 



simple form of nose- 

 leaf. It is found in 

 southern California and 

 Mexico, and its pelage 

 is very light-colored. 



The most remark- 

 able of all bat faces is 

 that of a small, brown- 

 colored West Indian 

 species known as Blain- 

 ville's Bat.^ As a 

 sport of Nature it stands fairly unrivalled, and shows what 

 is possible in the fashioning of skin into ornamental forms. 

 The ears are large and of most fantastic form, the chin is 

 bedecked with a highly convoluted bib of skin, and the eyes 

 and nostrils are almost lost amid the leaves and tubercles 

 which cover the muzzle. As a whole, the appearance of the 

 face of this bat suggests a highly complicated flower, like a 

 double pansy. The skull is only five-eighths of an inch in 

 length. This species is quite uncommon, and practically 

 nothing is known of its habits. 



' 0-top'ter-iis cal-i-for'ni-cus. * Mor'moops blain'vUl-ii. 



CALIFORNIA LEAF-NOSED BAT. 

 (After Harrison Allen.) 



