MAMMALIA. 



11 



Order CHIROPTERA. 1 



It could not be expected that many species of this order, of which fully two-thirds are 

 limited to the tropical and sub-tropical parts of the earth, would be found in the cold and 

 desert regions traversed by the expedition. Accordingly, the collection contains but six 

 species ; and of these one was obtained only in Kashmir. All belong to one family, the Ves- 

 pertilionidcB, and all are well known European forms, or differ so slightly from their European 

 allies, that they cannot be considered more than sub-species or varieties. The fur exhibits 

 superficially the same pale colour in all the specimens which were obtained in dry sandy dis- 

 tricts, a very constant character in bats inhabiting desert regions, as the writer has frequently 

 pointed out. 



Family— VESPEBTILIONID^. 

 1. Vesperugo pipistrellus. 



Vespertilio pipistrellus , Schreb. Saugth. I, p. 167, PL 54, (177b). 



Vesperugo pipistrellus, Dobson, Monograph of Asiatic Chiroptera, p. 95 ; and Cat. Chiropt. Brit. 

 Mus., 1878, p. 223. 



Yangihissar, between Kashghar and Yarkand : Kashmir. 



The collection contains a large number of specimens of this species, which is so widely 

 distributed in Northern Europe and Asia. Those taken in the Yarkand region have the 

 terminal half of the fur covering the back very pale yellowish-brown, almost buff, and 

 the extremities of the hairs of the under surface are so light-coloured as to appear almost 

 white in alcohol ; while the specimens obtained in Kashmir are very dark coloured through- 

 out, the extremities of the hairs being of a slightly paler colour than the base. The Kash- 

 mir specimens resemble V. abramus in the comparatively shallow emargination of the upper 

 third of the outer side of the ear-conch. 



2. Vesperugo borealis. 



Vespertilio borealis, Nillson, Ilium. Fig. Scandin. Fauna, haft 19, pi. 36 (1838). 

 Vesperugo nilssoni, Keys. Bias. Wiegm. Archiv., 1839, p. 315. 



Vesperugo borealis, Dobson, Mon. As. Chiropt., p. 105 ; Cat. Chiropt. B. M., p. 203. 

 Yangihissar and Kizil, Eastern Turkestan. 



Although this species, the most northern of European and Asiatic bats, has not hitherto 

 (so far as I can determine) been reported from any locality south of the Harz mountains 

 in Europe and the AIM Range in Asia, I find in the collection three specimens of a bat 

 which must be considered examples of it. They differ slightly in a few characters from 

 specimens of V: borealis preserved in the museums, but not sufficiently so, in my opinion, to 

 constitute a distinct species. In them the tragus reaches its greatest width slightly below 

 the middle of the inner margin ; the post-calcaneal lobe is very narrow ; the edge of the 



1 All the identifications and notes on this order are Ly Mr. G. A. Dobson, M. a., ii. b. 



