4 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Jan. 24, 1889. 



office of an organ of a very exalted sense of touch, stand- 

 ihg the same relation to the nasal branches of the sensory 

 divisions of the fifth nerve, as the aural apparatus to the 

 auditory nerve: for, as the latter organ collects and trans- 

 mits the waves of sounds, 90 the former receives impres- 

 sions arising from vibrations communicated to the air by 

 approaching objects." Certain specialized glands in these 

 leaf -like appeudages. analogous to the ear glands, main- 

 tain the exquisite sensitiveness of these organs, so that 

 their functions are in continuous and acute operation, 

 and bats possessing them are ever conscious of the most 

 breath-like movement of objects which take place any- 

 where in their immediate neighborhood. Marvelous, in- 

 deed, are some of the secrets of nature as they come to be 

 revealed to us! 



Other structures in bats also present us with their pecu- 

 liarities; in the two main sub-divisions of the order, we 

 find two corresponding types in the form of the stomach; 

 the fiver also possesses interesting features for the anato- 

 mist, while in such a species as Epomopkoms frompieti 

 of the African continent south of the Sahara Desert, we 

 find an extraordinary modification in connection with the 

 air passages, consisting of a large pair of air sacs which 

 communicate with the pharynx. Weil-known variations, 

 often very great ones, also occur in the volar membranes: 

 and some species are distinguished by remarkable 

 secondary sexual characters, as the odoriferous glands 

 and pouches, which are most frequently found in the 

 males, though the females may also possess them. Doctor 

 Dobson, in describing these in Cheiromeles torquains, & 

 large and peculiar bat of the Indo-Malayan subregion, 

 says that this "species is nearly naked, a collar only of 

 thinly spread hairs half surrounding the neck, and is 

 further remarkable for its enormous throat sac and curi- 

 ous nursing pouches. The former consists of a great 

 semi-circular fold of skin forming a deep pouch round 

 the neck beneath, concealing the orifices of large subcu- 

 taneous pectoral glands, which discharge an oily fluid of 

 insufferably offensive smell. The nirrsing pouch is formed 

 on each side by an extension of a fold of skin from the side 

 of the body to the inferior of the humerus and femur. In 

 the anterior part of this pouch the mamma is placed." 

 Some species possess suctorial disks at their ankles and 

 wrists, to assist their owners in maintaining a hold when 

 climbing up vertical and smooth surfaces (see Figs, 14, 15 

 and 16). Indeed there seems to be no end to the novelties 

 in structure among this more than highly interesting 

 group of mammals. 



About 450 species of bats are known to science, inhab- 

 iting nearly all quarters of the globe, even extending 

 their range northward as high as latitude 60° , while some 

 of the islands of the Pacific and Indian oceans can boast 

 of these animals alone as representing their indigenous 

 species. No doubt they have thus been enabled to be- 

 come so widely dispersed, even to islands, by virtue of 

 their highly developed powers of flight. As a rule the 

 large and formidable species are found only in the trop- 

 ical and subtropical regions. In cold countries the Chi- 

 roptera always resort to hibernation during the winter 

 months, usually collecting together in vast hordes for the 

 purpose. It is a notorious fact that among many species 

 the sexes when they thus congregate, keep apart, though 

 it is not uncommon to find a few males mixed up with 

 the host of females thus herded together. 



While collecting about Fort Wingate, New Mexico. I 

 captured several species of our smaller varieties of bats, 

 and also had the opportunity of examining specimens of 

 the peculiar "pale bat" (A. pallides), sent me from Ari- 

 zona. One of the specimens I collected at Fort Wingate 

 is shown in Fig. 13 of the present article, and this was 

 kindly determined for me by Dr. Dobson, to whom I 

 sent specimens to England. In writing me about it he 

 says: "It is a variety of Vespertilis evotis Allen, one- 

 tenth larger in all dimensions, and with the last caudal 

 vertebra alone free, otherwise it agrees with the speci- 

 men from which I took my description in my catalogue 

 of the Chiroptera. This species has not hitherto been 

 found east of the Rocky Mountains, but New Mexico, 

 according to the maps, is on the Rocky Mountains, so 

 this does not count for ninoh. Before recognizing your 

 specimen as even a variety it will be necessary to obtain 

 many more examples. The type of V. evotis may be an 

 example of a not full grown specimen or of a small form 

 of the species." (Under date of Dec. 5, 1880.) Such words 

 as these, and coming from such high authority ought to 

 be sufficient in themselves to impel collectors to take as 

 many of our more uncommon species of bats as possible, 

 with the view of more accurately determining their pre- 

 cise geographical ranges and their affinities. No doubt 

 we have still many new species of these little animals to 

 be added to our fauna; and I dare say many of the Mexi- 

 can forms cross our border, as yet unknown to us and 

 so have no place on our List. 



For the most part our United States bats belong to the in- 

 sectivorous branch of the family, and as I say are all small 

 representatives of the group. The largest bats in the world 

 are fruit eaters (see Fig. 6). In the African Ejxmiophorus, 

 alluded to above, I mean the species wherein the males 

 have the large distensible air-sacs in the neck, this species 

 I say lives principally upon figs, while PteropilS, of which 

 genus there are over forty species, lives largely upon a 

 variety of fruits, and it is said, will even sometimes 

 prey upon small quadrupeds and birds. These huge 

 Pteropodidce often in some species attain the size of a 

 small dog, and are spoken of by Europeans in India as 

 the "flying foxes;" they are usually tailless, and possess 

 pointed muzzles like a raccoon. P. edidis is hunted in 

 Java, and is eaten by the natives with great relish, it 

 having a rabbit-like flavor to its flesh. The East Indian 

 group of islands, Australia, Madagascar, Ceylon, southern 

 Japan and Burmah, dot out the extreme ranges of this 

 genus; while none are said to occur in Africa. Mr. Mac- 

 gillivray says of Pteropus conspicillatus that "on the 

 wooded slope of a hill on Fitzroy Island I one day fell in 

 with this bat in prodigious numbers, looking while flying 

 in the bright sunlight (so unusual for a nocturnal animal) 

 like a large flock of rooks. On close approach a strong 

 musky odor became apparent, and a loud incessant chat- 

 tering was heard. Many of the branches were bending 

 under their load of bats, some in a state of inacti vity, 

 suspended by their hind claws, others scrambling among 

 the boughs and taking to wing when disturbed." So 

 destructive to fruit and vegetables is Pteropus in some 

 parts of Java that the natives are obliged to protect their 

 trees and gardens by cages, which they construct of split- 

 bamboo; while during the day these plunderers hang by 

 their claws, head downward, in prodigious groups in the 



trees in the most shady parts of the dense forest— a sight 

 once seen never to be forgotton — looking like great- 

 winged, black fox squirrels. 



Another species (Cynonyetius leyyptica), allied to Ptero- 

 pus, is found in the deserted buildings of Egypt, and even 

 intrudes itself upon the sanctity of the royal chambers in 

 the Great Pyramid, where it flits about in the dimly- 

 lighted rooms of that gloomy structure. 



Of another related, and almost strictly, Oriental form 

 of the Pteropodidine bats, Cynopterns marginatus, Dob- 

 son says "is very common in India, and extremely de- 

 structi ve to ripe fruit of every description . To a specimen 

 of this bat obtained by the writer at Calcutta uninjured 

 was given a ripe banana, which, with the skin removed, 

 weighed exactly 2oz. The animal immediately, as if 

 famished with hunger, fell upon the fruit, seizing it be- 

 tween the thumbs and the index fingers, and took large 

 mouthfuls out of it, opening the mouth to the fullest ex- 

 tent with extreme voracity. In the apace of three hours 

 the whole fruit was consumed. Next morning the bat 

 was killed, and found to weigh loz,, half the weight of 

 the food eaten in three hours. Indeed the animal when 

 eating seemed to be a kind of living mill, the food pass- 

 ing from it almost as fast as devoured, and apparently 

 unaltered, eating being, as it were, performed only for 

 the pleasure of eating." 



Harjryia is still another extraordinary type of the fruit- 

 eating bats, and I give herewith a figure of its curious 

 face, showing the projecting nostrils. (Fig. 2.) 



Our United States bats, as we are aware, are almost 

 entirely of the insectivorous varieties, and by habit either 

 nocturnal or crepuscular. Sometimes they spend the day up 

 among the thicker branches of trees, or in caves, or very fre- 

 quently hi the most inaccessible recesses of unused build- 

 ings. Several times, however, while collecting a number 

 of years ago in northern Alabama. I shot specimens of our 

 VespertiUo subidatus, the little brown bat, while it was 

 actively engaged in hunting insects at midday. And I 

 have often seen them issue forth just prior to a heavy 

 thunderstorm, and when the sky was dark and lowering. 

 Formerly our early settlers spoke of the bats as the "flit- 

 ter mice," bringing the word with them across the water, 

 and when we come to dip down into the earliest days of 

 natural science, we find Pliny classifies them with the 

 birds, although he well knew they suckled their young; 

 and surely when Virgil comes to "describe his horrid har- 

 pies, the "diva' obsceilteque votltcres^' he must have had 

 the bats in his mind. During all ages, either in rhyme 

 or prose, where a touch of the weird or uncanny was 

 demanded, the effect was generally enhanced by throw- 

 ing a bat in , nor are our recent wTiters altogether oblivious 

 to such subterfuges. Prosperine, the Empress of Hell, 

 claimed as her own the bat as her sacred creature, and 

 Homer of olden time did not hesitate to skillfully intro- 

 duce them into his vivid word-pictures of the regions 

 below , with their howling and semi-accursed inhabitants. 

 A writer before me has it when he says that "even to this 

 day. painters must borrow the wings of bats for their 

 devils, in the same way that they borrow the wings of 

 doves for their angels; and one has only to throw a deep 

 Rembrandt shade over a piece of canvas, and show a 

 bat's wing partly displayed from a cave, in order to give 

 an infernal air to it, and make it, with very little paint- 

 ing, a good pictorial representation of the gates of hell. 

 It is easy to see how a race which is linked with such asso- 

 ciations should have, but a scanty measure meted out to it 

 by the. half-superstitious naturalists of the Middle Ages: 

 and a remnant of the same superstition is, no doubt, the 

 cause of much of the horror which is still connected with 

 some of the larger species of warm countries. 



How rapidly, though, is science, dissolving such crude 

 notions of animal forms, to say nothing of the change 

 in the spirit of our dreams in reference to a hell, which 

 also seems to be vanishing before the penetrating rays 

 of the same agency. Why, we may even live to see the 

 time, when in a cultured circle of people— an evening 

 party say— in one of our own civilized cities, when a bat 

 flits in through the open window, the ladies will not all 

 scream out in affright, cover their heads with their outer 

 dresses, and with horror exclaim: "There's a bat; and if 

 it gets into our hair it will have to be cut off, for it can 

 never be taken|out again!" and then rush from the room. 



Passing now to the consideration of some of the forms 

 which represent the Vespertilionine Alliance, to some of 

 which we have already alluded in foregoing para- 

 graphs, w r e find them in this country in Ihe well-known 

 genera of Vesprrngo, Atalnpha, Yexpertilio and Nycti- 

 cejus. I have found several species of Atalapka breeding 

 about New Orleans during the very hottest part of the 

 year; yes, in the month of July, and upon capturing a 

 mother with her one or two tender little young clinging 

 to the hair over and about her mammae they seemed to 

 me to be actually suffering from the heated air, and 

 panted and perspired when held in the hand in a most 

 distressing manner. Only one bat has been thus far re- 

 corded as inhabiting both hemispheres, and this is the 

 little Serotine bat (V. serotiaa). 



In coloration, bats of this group, or of any group in 

 fact, may be almost entirely black, others may be of all 

 shades of brown, tan and ochre, while the Indian species 

 KeHvoula picta. has a brilliantly colored orange fur, 

 with orange and black wings, a most gaudy little fellow 

 to behold. Again their fur may be wooly as about the 

 neck in certain forms of Pteropus, or soft and smooth 

 almost as in the moles, or their bodies may be nearly 

 naked. 



In thefamiJy Nycteridw we have but two genera, Mega- 

 derma (see Fig. 10) and NycteHs. The Megaderms have 

 been known to eat smaller species of bats which they 

 capture, and are in part no doubt carnivorous in their 

 habits. 



Another foreign group is seen in the family Rhinolophida. 

 containing a number of species wherein the 4 'nose-leaves" 

 have arrived at the very acme of development, and in- 

 deed they appear to be the most highly organized, in all 

 respects, of the insectivorous bats. Much of their struc- 

 ture and many of their forms are full of interest. The 

 bat (Tricenops persicus) is notorious for the extraordinary 

 leaf-like integumentary foliations that project from 

 above its muzzle. 



We next pass to the Emballonurine Alliance, the 

 last group which we have, and it contains some still 

 more wonderful types of these strange forms. I 

 have already alluded to some of the species of the first 

 family we meet with in this group (Emballonuridw), as 

 Rhinbponm and others, while some of the Molossina are 

 found in our own fauna. 



Some of these latter are among the most graceful and 

 expert of all the Chiropterine flyers, capturing then in- 

 sect prey upon the wing in a manner interesting to be- 

 hold. Their organization is specially modified in several 

 particulars to meet such an end. 



To this subfamily Molossinm, too, belongs the curious 

 species Mystacina tvberadata, the sole representative of 

 the genus. It is characterized by having its tail perfor- 

 ating its interfemoral membrane; the central portion of 

 its wing-membranes markedly attenuated, while the 

 borders are thick, so that when folded the parts are 

 neatly tucked out of the way, and it then becomes, as 

 Dobson remarks, the most quadrupedal of bats. It is 

 restricted in its habitat to New Zealand, and presents us 

 with a number of other peculiar structures in its physical 

 economy. 



Last of all we have the family Phyllostomidm, which 

 group contains the famous vampires or blood-suckers. 

 Mormops blainviUii (see "List") comes in here, a most 

 peculiar appearing bat, with a fringe of leaf -like append- 

 ages ornamenting its chin. It belongs to the subfamily 

 Lobostomimm, and the subfamily following it, or the 

 Phyllostominm, contains the celebrated "Javelin bats" 

 (see Fig. 1). species which subsist upon a mixed diet of 

 bisects and fruit, and the spectre bat, long supposed to 

 be a "blood-sucker," but now known to be wholly frugiv- 

 orous. (See Fig. 3.) Not so, however, with Macrotus 

 waterhouseii, found in California, Mexico and the West 

 Indies, for this species varies its diet by preying upon 

 other and smaller species of bats, as does' the Megaderm 

 of the Old World. 



The peculiarly-shaped tongue in such a form as Chce- 

 ronyeteris mexieana (see Fig. 4), is not intended to suck 

 the blood of its vietiins, as was almost universally be- 

 lieved heretofore, owing to the vivid descriptions of Spix, 

 but as has been shown by Osborn, Dobson and others, 

 this tongue is simply used to lick out the pulpy parts of 

 certain fruits having dense rinds to them : these bats be- 

 ing fruit-eating species. The last-named writer also 

 states that they use it to extract insects from the corollas 

 of certain tubular flowers, much, as I imagine, humming- 

 birds do. Here, too, we have the Centwio senex, of 

 which it is said that "this most remarkable form stands 

 alone among the species of the Chiroptera, and, indeed, 

 in its peculiar and grotesque physiognomy is unrivaled 

 among known mammals." 



FinaUy we have the Desmodovtes, the last group of the 

 family Phyttostoritidv' which we have been considering. 

 The Desmodontes contains the well-marked genera, the 

 Xtiphylla and Desmodus, both sanguivorous bats, and 

 restricted in their habitat to Central and South America. 

 Dobson says of D. rufus, the commoner species, that it 

 "is a little larger than the noctule bat of Europe, and 

 abundant in certain parts of South America, where it is 

 very troublesome, owing to its attacks upon domestic 

 animals, sucking their blood and often leaving them 

 much weakened from repeated bleedings." 



It is said, however, that hoofed animals rarely die from 

 the effects of the vampire's bite, but that fowls do. It 

 makes its attacks in the night time, and an old current 

 notion still exists that it fans its victim to sleep with its 

 wings. Men are no exception to the vampire's propensi- 

 ties, and if any parts of the body are left exposed, in the 

 forests inhabited by these animals, it is more than bkely 

 that one will fasten upon the inviting site. Most of the 

 accounts, however, that have come to us about these 

 creatures are much exaggerated, and people who have 

 sustained bites from Desmodus say that the effects soon 

 pass off, the spot being only a little sore for a few days. 

 It is all nonsense about their finding one of the larger "ar- 

 teries from which to draw the blood, and the puncture 

 made with their teeth is by no means deep, and may 

 occur at any part of the body. In Paraguay, says Azara, 

 the inhabitants have no especial dread of this bat, and 

 they frequent the houses, and people are often bitten by 

 them. A big mammalian mosquito, that's all— and, I do 



THE FIGURES. 



Fig. i. Face of the Javelin Bat (.Phyllostoma luistatum), a Micro- 

 ehiropterine species of South America. Drawn life-size by the 

 author from a figure in Goodrich's Natural History. 



Fig. 2. Head of Harpyhi major, a Megachiropterine species of 

 the Austro-Malayan subregion; life-size. By the author after 

 Dobson. 



Fig. 3. Life-size head of the Spectre Bat ■ {Vampi/rus spectrum)", 

 the largest hat in the New World; an Emballonurine species of 

 South America; wholly frugfvorous. Dra wn by the author from a 

 cut in Goodrich's Natural History. 



Fig. 4. Head of Charon yeter 7s meTieana, showing flbritlated 

 tongue, and the peculiar extensibility of this organ in this South 

 American species. (For related species see "List .") "By the author 

 after Dobson. 



Fifr. ft. Head of Molnssas yloncumx (see "List"), a South Ameri- 

 can Emballonurine Bat, which has its ear-conch peculiarly divided 

 by a prominent keel. Life-size by the author after Dobson. 



Fig. 6. Life-size head of the Kalong {Pt.vropu* jovavims), a large 

 fruit-eating Bat of Java, the wings of which measure 5ft. from tip 

 to tip. Drawn by the author from Goodrich. 



Fig. 7. Life-size head of the Long-eared Bat. ( Ptecobus auriius) 

 of Europe. Drawn by the author after a figure in Goodrich. 



Fig. 8. Superior aspect of the right clavicle or collar-bone of a 

 female specimen of the Red Bat (A. vomhoraeemU), x8. From 

 nature by the author. 



Fig. 9. Left lateral aspect of the skull of the curious tailed 

 Rkinapoma microphyUum, an Egyptian Bat. which walks when on 

 the ground; the only species of the kind; x2. By the author after 

 Dobson. 



Fig. 10. Face of Megaderma glgas, life-size; a Bat of Central 

 Queensland, and the largest representative of the suborder Micro- 

 chiroptera. By the author after a cut in Goodrich. 



Fig. 11. Dorsal aspect of the left scapula or shoulder-blade of a 

 female specimen of Atalapha nwetoornrrwis, the Red Bat, viewed 

 somewhat obliquely, and nearly three times the size of life. By 

 the author from the specimen. The curious processes over the 

 glenoid cavity are to be noted. 



Fig. 12. Left anterior oblique view of the pelvis of a female 

 specimen of the Red Bat (A.. noveboracensiS), nearly X3; showing 

 the normally parted symphysis between the pubic bones. Part 

 of the vertebral column and tail left in situ. By the author from 

 the specimen. 



Fig, 13. Anterior view of a life-size male specimen of Vespertilio 

 evotis. (See "List.") Drawn by the author from a specimen taken 

 by him in New Mexico. 



Figs. 14-16. Suctorial Disks in Thyroptera tricolor (a Brazilian 

 Bat belonging to the VespertiUonlOw); tig, 14 side and 15 concave 

 surface of thumb disk; fig. 16 foot with disk, aud calcar with pro- 

 jections (all much enlarged, and drawn by the author after Dob- 

 son). These disks enable bats of this.species to maintain their 

 hold when they climb up vertical surfaces, acting at such times 

 as suckers. 



Fig. 17. Superior view of the skull of a nurseling specimen of 

 the Red Bat (A. novehoracensis), X3; s.o.. supraoccipital; p, pari- 

 etal; z, zygoma;/, frontal; n, nasal; pmx, premaxillary; mx, max- 

 illary; ./, jugal or malar. By the author from the specimen. 



Fig. 18. Skeleton and Volar Membranes of the Noctule Rai 

 (Vesperugo noctula) Xjfe C, clavicle; h, humerus; r, radius; M, ulna 

 (rudimentary); d 1 , first digit or pollex; d'\ d a , d 4 , d 6 , other digits of 

 the manus supporting urn, the wing-membrane; m, m, metacarpal 

 bones; »», first phalanx; p 2 , second phalanx; p", third phalanx! 

 am, antebrachial membrane; /, femur; t, tibia; fb, fibula (rudimen- 

 tary); cm, calcaneum or calcar supporting im, the interfemoral 

 membrane; pel. post-calcaneal lobe. Drawn by the author afier 

 Dobson and somewhat altered. 



