THE LESSER HORSESHOE BAT . 
2C 3 
and is said to frequent the darkest and most inaccessible parts of such excavations. Thus, Montagu 
found it in company with the smaller species next to be described, in “Kent’s Hole,” near Torquay, 
“ a retreat,” says Mr. Bell, “ so dark and gloomy, that no other species, even of this lucifugal family, 
were found to frequent it.” In such retreats it passes the winter in a torpid state, coming forth in the 
spring to prey upon the insects which constitute its sole nourishment. It is said often to feed upon 
chafers, but to eat only the body. That it does not disdain smaller game, however, appears from 
Pennant’s record of its original discovery in England by Dr. Latham, who obtained it at Dartford, in 
Kent, where, says Pennant, “ they are found in greatest numbers in the saltpetre houses belonging 
to the powder-mills ; and frequent them during the evening for the sake of the Gnats which swarm 
there. They have also been found during winter, in a torpid state, clinging to the roof.” Mr. James 
Salter, in a communication to Mr. Bell, mentions his having caught one of these Bats on the 29th of 
September, 1865, in so appropriate a locality as the “haunted room” at Tomson Manor House, 
Dorsetshire. It was flitting about the room when lie went to lied, having entered by an open window. 
“On the next three nights, which were still and calm,” he says, “I saw numbers of (apparently) the 
same Bats flying around the house among a grove of sycamores. The flight was low, short, and 
sluggish, both in the room and out of doors.” 
This Bat suckles its young, after the usual fashion of Bats, at the two pectoral teats. Several 
authors, and among others Geoffroy, have maintained that the Horseshoe Bat, and indeed all the 
species of the family to which it belongs, possess, besides the ordinary pectoral teats, a second pair 
situated on the groin. This, however, is not the case, for the nipple-like appendages situated on 
the groin in the females of this group have been proved to have no connection with any mammary 
glands. 
In England the Greater Horseshoe Bat has been found in various localities in the southern 
counties. Besides Dartford, where it was originally discovered in this country, Mr. Bell mentions 
Margate, Bochester, and Bristol Cathedrals, Colchester, caverns at Clifton, and the UndercliflT of the 
Isle of Wight. On the continent of Europe it inhabits the whole of the southern and central parts 
from Spain and Portugal in the west, to Greece and Turkey in the east, extending northwards as far 
as central Germany and southern Bussia. In Asia it is found in Syria and Asia Minor, and ranges 
thence eastwards to Nepaul and Mussooree; whilst in Africa it appears to stretch from Algeria to the 
Cape of Good Hope. Over this wide range, as might be expected, the species does not always display 
precisely the same characters, and variations of greater or less importance have led to the establish- 
ment of supposed distinct species ; amongst others, the Japanese Rhinolophus nippon is regarded by 
Mr. Dobson as identical with our Greater Horseshoe Bat. 
THE LESSER HORSESHOE BAT* 
The Lesser Horseshoe Bat, the second British species of this genus, was formerly regarded on’y 
as a small variety of the preceding, and was first distinguished 
by Colonel Montagu, who also first detected its occurrence in this 
country. It is about half an inch shorter than the Greater Horse- 
shoe Bat, and its expanse of wing is about nine inches. In general 
aspect it resembles the larger species. The fur is equally soft and 
full, and of the same colours, except that the upper surface Is a little 
browner, and the lower parts rather more tinged with yellow. In 
the ears the transverse furrows are scarcely perceptible, and the 
basal lobe is rather larger in proportion. There are also some small, 
but constant, peculiarities in the structure of the nasal appendages. 
The central leaf is less prominent and less cupped at the base than 
in R. ferrum-equinum ; the frontal leaf is lance-shaped, and not 
much dilated at the sides towards the base \ and the outer margin of the horseshoe is slightly 
crenulated (see figure). 
In its habits this kind seems to agree with the Greater Horseshoe Bat- .As already mei> 
■* Rhinolophus hippos'idet'os , 
HEAD OF LESSER HORSESHOE RAT 
