﻿32 



NORTH AMERICAN FAUNA. 



Mydas (Eptesicus). Eafiiiesque, Aiiuals of Nature, p. 3, 1820. The 



desciiptioii of EjHcsicns mydas leaves the species hopelessly indeter- 

 miuable. It is as follows : 



Fulvous above, grey beneatli ; wiugs, ears and tail, brown, shafts whitish; 



ears double the length of the head; tail naked, slightly mucronate, nearly as long 

 as the body. — I have observed it in the barrens of Kentucky Hying in the houses. 

 Total length three inches, of which the tail includes live-twelfths. Ears three- 

 quarters of an inch long. I mentioned it under the name of Ves]), mydas in my 

 account of the Bats of the western states, (Am. Mag. v. 3). I have since instituted 

 two other genera with them, Hupexodon and Xycticeius (Prodr. 70 N. G. An) ; the 

 others are probably Atalaphes. I know already lifteeu siJecies of Bats in the 

 United States, almost all new ones. 



No bat is known to oct^iir in Kentucky that combines the characters 

 attributed to this animal. 



Mystax (Vespertilio). Ralinesque, American Monthly Mag., Ill, p. 

 445, 1818. This species which Kafinesque had already referred to as 

 Noctilio mi/stax,^ is described as follows: 



Tail two-fifths of total length, upper incisores none, lower 6, 2 warts at the 

 lower jaw, body entirely fallow, top of the head brownish, ears brown, auricu- 

 lated, longer than the head. Length 5 inches, breadth 14. 



In the diagnosis of the genus Hype.rodon, ha&ed on this species, some 

 further characters — such as 'nostrils round, projecting,' and Mips 

 whiskered' — are added, which only serve to increase the impossibility 

 of identifying the animal. 



Nigricans (Vespertilio). Maximilian, Beitrilge Naturgesch. Brasil., II, 

 p. 266, 1826. Myotis nigricans (Maximilian) is a si)ecies closely related 

 to Af. californicus, which it replaces in the tropical fauna from southern 

 Mexico southward. The name was n])i)lied to M. caUforniciis by Dr. 

 Harrison Allen in his recent monograph (1893). In the original descrip- 

 tion Maximilian cites Schinz ('Thierreich u. s. w. B. I. j). 179') as 

 authority for the name. As I liave been unable to verify this reference 

 I do not know whether the name was actually published before 1826. 



Nitidus (Vespertilio). H. Allen, Proc. Acad. Kat. Sci. Phila. (1862), 

 p. 247, 1863. Vespertilio nitidus H. Allen, is the common small brown 

 bat of the western United States and therefore the name is a synonym 

 of T". californicus And. & Bacli., 1842. 



Noctivagans (Vespertilio.) Le Oonte, McMurtrie's Cuvier, Animal King- 

 dom, I, p. 431, 1831. This is the hrst name based on the silver-haired 

 bat, Lasionycteris noctivagans. 



Noveboracensis (Vespertilio). Erxleben, Syst. Eegni Anim., I, \). 155, 

 1777. Erxleben's Yespertilio novehoracensis w^as based on the Kew 

 York bat of Pennant (Synop. Quadr., p. 367), ^Die nordamerikanische 

 Fledermaus' of Schreber (Siiugthiere, I, p. 176), and 'Der iTeujorker' of 

 Miiller (]^atursyst. Suppl., p. 20). It is therefore the red bat. Las i urns 

 horealis. 



Noveboraeus (Vespertilio). Boddaert, Elenchus Animalium, I, p. 71, 

 1785. This is the red bat, Lasinrus horealis Miiller. Boddaert men- 



1 American Monthly Mag., Ill, p. 354. 



