THE PERSIAN TRIDENT BAT . 
287 
The late Captain Hutton has given an account of the habits of this species as observed by him at 
Mussooree, where specimens were captured at elevations of 5,500 and 0,000 feet above the sea-level. 
At the latter elevation a pair resided in a loft, from which they issued every evening about dusk, and 
flew with a slow, deliberate flight round the house, from which they never departed to any great dis- 
tance. They did not remain on the wing long at a time, but retired at intervals to their dwelling-place 
in the loft. The same writer describes these Bats, which seem to emerge from their concealment very 
early in the evening, as leisurely wheeling with noiseless flight round some wide-spreading oak, attracted 
by the loud discordant note of a large Cicada , which is abundant during the rainy season, and only 
pours forth its clamorous evening song just as the sun begins to dip below the horizon. “ It is during 
this dreadfully harsh concert/' lie adds, M when almost every tree sends forth its stunning notes, that 
this Bat emerges from its hiding-place, w heeling round and round the trees, scanning each branch as he 
slowly passes by, now rising to a higher circle, and then descending towards the lower branches, until 
at length, detecting the unfortunate minstrel, it darts suddenly into the tree, arid snatching the still 
screaming insect from its perch, bears it away.” 
In captivity, according to Captain Ilutton, the large ears of this animal are kept in a constant, 
rapid, tremulous motion, and the creature emits a low purring sound, which is exchanged for a sharp 
squeak when it is alarmed or irritated. When it is suspended in a resting attitude the tail and inter- 
femoral membrane are turned up, not in front, as usual in Bats, but behind, upon the lower part of the 
back In this species and its allies Captain Hutton further noticed that when they are disturbed 
“ the whole of the facial crests are kept in a state of constant agitation ; and as tho animal hangs 
suspended by the feet, the head and muzzle are stretched forth, and turned about in every direction, 
as if for the purpose of sniffing out the presence of danger, and ascertaining the cause of the dis- 
turbance.”* 
THE PERSIAN TRIDENT BAT.f 
Under this name Mr. Dobson describes a very remarkable species of this family in which the 
nasal appendages seem to attain the extreme of complexity 
(see figure). The ears also are of very peculiar construction. 
This is a small species, about two and a quarter inches long, 
and of a pale buff colour, specimens of which were obtained 
at Shiraz in Persia at an elevation of about 4,750 feet above 
the sea. Its nearest ally, curiously enough, is to be found, ac- 
cording to Mr. Dobson, in the Australian Orange Bat ( Bldno - 
nycteris anrantia ) . 
Frith’s Short-tailed Bat ( Ccdops Frithii) is a still more 
remarkable species, single specimens of which have been ob- 
tained from the Sunderbunds and from Java. It is most nearly 
allied to the Phyllorhmce, but has the horseshoe part of the 
nose-leaf composed of two notched pieces, the front lobes of which HEAD 0F THE rEESIAN trident bat, 
. ENLARGED. ( After Dobson.) 
cover the base of two long hanging leaflets, the tail short, the 
interfemoral membrane deeply excavated, and the index finger unusually long, and composed chiefly 
of the metacarpal bone. 
* Other common Eastern species are the Masked Leaf Bat (Phyllorldua larvata), which occurs in Bengal, Further India, 
Siam, and Java ; the Bicolorous Leaf Bat {P. hi color), which inhabits India, China, and many of the Eastern islands ; and 
the Indian Horseshoe Bat (P. spcoris), an abundant form in Central and Southern India and in Ceylon, and which has also 
been met with in Burmah. A single species (P. taitienmj has been described from Tahiti. It is very nearly related to the last- 
named Indian form, if not merely a variety of it. A single species (P. cervina) also inhabits North Australia, where it has 
been met with at Cape York, and in sandstone caverns in Albany Island. It is about two inches long ; above, tawny-brown, 
darker on the face, head, and shoulders ; below, paler, with a grey tinge on the belly. Several species of the genus inhabit the 
warmer parts of Africa, and one of these ( P. tr ideas), a small species, only two inches in length, an inhabitant of Egypt and 
Nubia, has the posterior nose-leaf divided into three teeth towards the forehead, a character which it displays in common with 
an Indian species (P. StoiicAana), and another from Amboyna and Batcliian, of still more diminutive proportions. A distinct 
genus ( AscUitt ) has been proposed for the reception of these Bats. The largest species of the genus comes from Guinea and 
the Gold Coast, on the west coast of Africa. It is nearly five inches in length, and has received the name of Phi/llorhina gigas. 
It is associated with two or three smaller species, and two or three others occur in Southern and Eastern Africa, 
t Tricenops persicus. 
