FURTHER EXPLORATIONS IN THE LAND OF THE INCAS 465 



decidedly undershot, and the head, with 

 its short, cropped ears and broad muzzle, 

 has a strikingly bulldog" appearance. The 

 legs are well developed and rather heavy, 

 enabling the animal to move fairly rap- 

 idly on the ground, in which situation it 

 is by no means a shuffling", helpless crea- 

 ture like many other bats. If molested 

 when thrown to the ground, it will turn 

 and bite savagely. 



"The teeth are a highly modified cut- 

 ting apparatus for making incisions in the 

 skins of mammals and birds. The cheek 

 teeth, or grinders, have their crowns 

 modified into narrow and high-cutting 

 edges which work against their fellows 

 of the opposite jaw much as the blades 

 of scissors. 



POWER TO EAT SOLID FOOD LOST 



"Some four teeth only on each side take 

 part in this cutting function, all the other 

 molar teeth being suppressed or actually 

 lost. Possessing teeth of a strictly cut- 

 ting nature, this bat cannot crush in- 

 sects, so that it is now actually forced 

 to feed on the blood of other animals. 

 Moreover, the gullet is so restricted or 

 narrow that only blood can be passed 

 through it, and the stomach is weak 

 walled, with the general appearance of 

 an intestinal structure. I have on several 

 occasions examined the stomachs of these 

 bats and have found them to contain only 

 coagulated or clotted blood. 



"In size the vampire is somewhat larger 

 than our own common brown bat, com- 

 pared with which it is a much heavier- 

 built animal. The spread between the 

 tips of the outstretched wings is eight or 

 ten inches, and the length of the body 

 from the tip of the snout to the insertion 

 of the hind limbs is three and one-half 

 inches. In habits they are sociable, and 

 are commonly found living in caves or 

 tunnels, suspended from the ceiling in 

 clusters often of immense size. 



"The animals usually attacked by the 

 vampire bat are cattle, horses, mules, and 

 donkeys. Their flight is low and close to 

 the surface of the earth, and doubtless 

 takes place late in the evening, when com- 

 plete darkness has set in ; so that they are, 

 owingf to such habits, seldom seen. 



"Machu Picchu is locally notorious for 

 the poisonous serpents inhabiting the re- 



gion in which the ruins are situated. 

 During the work of excavation by the 

 1912 Expedition several species of the 

 dangerous viper commonly known as the 

 fcr-de-lance, or bushmaster, were en- 

 countered. During my trip to the ruins 

 in October another smaller species of 

 viper was secured on the trail. The local 

 Indian guide informed me that during 

 the summer he killed on an average one 

 viper a week. 



"The venom of the bushmaster is more 

 powerful than that of any other viper in 

 the New World and is slightly different 

 in quality from that of the rattlesnake, to 

 which it is allied in the general structure 

 of its poison apparatus. 



"A much more poisonous reptile, and 

 one found in the same region, is the coral 

 snake, which is armed with venom of the 

 same character as the deadly cobras of 

 Africa and India. 



"The city of Machu Picchu is today, 

 as regards its fauna, in much the same 

 condition as during the days of its occu- 

 pation by the Incas. The commonest 

 birds about the terraces are the crested 

 sparrow, black-headed grosbeak, the gold- 

 finch, gray dove, and brown robin. Con- 

 dors were seen quite often on the ridge." 



The mammals of the ridge are forest 

 types which still manage to live there 

 under the changed conditions. As the 

 city is surrounded by forests for many 

 leagues, it has not been possible for high- 

 land mammals of the Andean grass re- 

 gion to reach the ridge by way of any 

 grass - covered tongues or connecting 

 spaces. The mammals known to occur 

 within the limits of the city are the black 

 forest opossum, the spectacled bear, the 

 white-tailed deer, the proboscis-nosed 

 skunk, the brown weasel, a large rodent 

 the size of a woodchuck, a large arboreal 

 or tree rat of the rice-rat group, a rat- 

 like rodent, Apodon, and several other 

 smaller rodents. 



A WILDERNESS SUPREME 



In August a party was organized to 

 explore the so-called San Miguel Valley, 

 which, although occupied for some time 

 by rnbber-gatherers, did not exist on any 

 published map of Peru. The party con- 

 sisted of Naturalist Heller, Topographer 

 Mavnard, and Sursreon Ford. 



