56 



NORTH AMERICANi FAUNA 66 



hundred bats, most of which were probably of this species, passing 

 over a part of Washington, D.C., between 9 and 10 a.m. on the cloudy 

 mild morning of 28 September 1907. 



Ked bats mate during early August; copulation occurs while the 

 bats are in flight. The female apparently stores the sperm, and the 

 young are not born until the following June after a gestation period 

 of 80 to 90 days. Three are the usual number of young per litter, 

 although there are occasionally two or four. 



Like other Maryland bats, the red bat is insectivorous and catches 

 most of its prey while on wing. Some insects, however, are probably 

 taken from the foliage or even near the ground, since remains of 

 crickets have been found in stomachs. Additional items of diet are 

 flies, bugs, beetles, cicadas, and other insects. 



Specimens examined. — Anne Anmdel Comity: Annapolis, 1; An- 

 napolis, 3 miles NW, 1 ; no exact locality, 2. Baltimore City: 1. Colbert 

 County: Solomons, 1. Charles County: Port Tobacco, Xy^ miles SW, 

 2. Dor Chester County: Cambridge, 1. Frederick County: Doubs, 1. 

 Montgomery County: Forest Glen, 6 ; Glen Echo, 1 ; Plummers Island, 

 7 ; Silver Spring, 2. Prmce Georges County: College Park, 1; Laurel, 

 14. Somerset Cov/nty: off Tangier Island, Virginia, 1; Washington 

 County: Hagerstown, 2; Sandy Hook, 1. District of Columbia: 83. 



Other records and reports, — Baltimore County: Patapsco State Park 

 (Hampe, 1939, p. 6). Queen Annes County: Kent Point (bird bander 

 David Bridge in verbis, 16 September 1964) . 



Remarks. — A closely related species, the seminole bat, La^iurus semi- 

 nolus (Rhoads), which normally is found in Florida, southern Geor- 

 gia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana, has been reported twice 

 from southeastern Pennsylvania (Poole, 1932, p. 162; 1949, p. 80) 

 and once from central New York (Layne, 1955, p. 453) . Layne suggests 

 that individuals of this species may wander northward far out of the 

 norm.al range in summer, and if this is so, the seminole bat may eventu- 

 ally be taken in Maryland. This species is distinguished from the red 

 bat by its much darker coloration, a rich mahogany brown slightly 

 frosted with white. 



HOARY BAT 

 Lasiurus cinereus cinereus (Palisot de Beauvois) 



Vespertilio cinereus (misspelled linereus) Palisot de Beauvois, Cata- 

 logue raisonne du museum de Mr. C. W. Peale, Philadelphia, 

 p. 18, 1796. 



Type looality. — Philadelphia, Pa. 



General distribution. — Most of North America, from the Atlantic to the Pa- 

 cific, north into Canada, and south into Mexico. Breeds in the northern part of 

 its range, mostly north of the United States. 



