1917.] 



Lang and Chapin, Field Notes on African Chiroptera. 



513 



MICROCHIROPTERA. 

 Emballonurhle. 



9. Taphozous mauritianus Geoffroy. 



Plate XLVIII, Fig. 1. 



The pointed short-haired muzzle, the large eyes, the erect ears, the light- 

 grayish, peculiarly freckled tints above, and the pure white below give to this 

 tomb-bat its clean appearance, which is further enhanced by the glistening 

 effect of the smoothly appressed hair. The wing membranes are white, 

 nearly translucent, and appear quite conspicuous when they fly during 

 daylight. The glandular pouch under the chin is not so well marked in the 

 females as in the slightly smaller males. 



They have only one young and breed probably throughout the year, as 

 proved by several half-grown young collected in April, May, November, 

 and December and also by records of an embryo in May and of a young- 

 one still clinging to its mother's breast in April. 



In Faradje where they were the commonest bat and had established 

 themselves in all the houses, they did not care in the least for dark places 

 in the interior of buildings, nor did they hang from the rafters as do Hippo- 

 sideros caffer centralis and Nycteris hispida, but preferred to cling along the 

 outer side of the brick walls right below the thatched roof. Here they could 

 be easily observed, and it was apparent that their folded wings were of as 

 much assistance to them as their feet while clambering along the bricks. 

 Sometimes as many as a dozen were seen along these walls, though each one 

 kept by itself. If one walked immediately below them they would shift 

 nervously sidewise or climb on top of the brick walls, only to return when the 

 disturbance had ceased. Rarely would they fly out into the sun to hide in 

 some shady place in a tree or other building. 



They appeared later than other bats, in fact only when complete darkness 

 had set in, so that it was impossible to shoot them in flight. They seldom 

 entered lighted rooms. As they flew out from beneath the roof or made 

 sudden turns a peculiar whirring sound could be heard, probably caused 

 by a skin-fold that runs from the radius to the base of the fifth digit and 

 is characteristic of the genus Taphozous. Their well-developed wing 

 muscles indicate the rapidity and great power of their flight. According to 

 stomach contents their prey consists chiefly of small moths, undoubtedly 



