TEE LYRE BAT. 
289 
HEAD OF THE CORDATE LEAF HAT. 
differences in habits.” And he goes on to say that in examining the stomach and intestines of 
numerous specimens of the present species, he always found them either perfectly empty or filled with 
x pultaceous matter, in which no remains of insects were to be recognised. Mr. Hodgson, however, 
found insects in the specimens examined by him. But whether it contemns insects or not, an ob- 
servation made by the late Mr. Blyth suffices to prove that higher forms of animal life, and indeed 
its own near relations, are exposed to its attacks. The account 
given by Mr. Blyth is so interesting that, although rather long, 
we may give it entire : — 
“ Chancing one evening,” he says, “to observe a rather 
large Bat enter an outhouse, from which there was no other 
egress than by its doorway, I was fortunate in being able to 
procure a light, and thus to proceed to the capture of the 
animal. Upon finding itself pursued, it took three or four 
turns round the apartment, when down dropped what at the 
moment I supposed to be its young, and which I deposited in 
my handkerchief. After a somewhat tedious chase, I then 
secured the object of my pursuit, which proved to be a fine 
female of Megaderma lyra. I then looked to the other Bat 
which I had picked up, and, to my considerable surprise, 
found it to be a small VespertUio , nearly allied to the Pipistrelle of Europe, which is exceedingly 
abundant, not only here, but apparently throughout India. The individual now referred to was feeble 
from loss of blood, which it was evident the Megaderma had been sucking from a large and still 
bleeding wound under and behind the ear; and the very obviously suctorial form of the mouth of 
the Vampire was of itself sufficient to hint the strong probability of such being the case. During 
the very short time that elapsed before I entered the outhouse, it did not appear that the depredator 
had once alighted ; and T am satisfied that it sucked the vital fluid from its victim as it flew, having 
probably seized it on the wing, and that it was seeking a quiet 
nook where it might devour the body at its leisure. I kept both 
animals separate till next morning, when, procuring a convenient 
cage, I first put in the Megaderma ; and after observing it for 
some time, I placed the other Bat with it. No sooner was the 
latter perceived than the other fastened upon it with the ferocity 
of a Tiger, again seizing ifc behind the ear, and made several efforts 
to fly off with it ; but finding it must needs stay within the pre- 
cincts of its cage, it soon hung by the hind legs to the wires of its 
prison, and after sucking its victim till no more blood was left, 
commenced devouring it, and soon left nothing but the head and 
some portions of the limbs.” 
According to Mr. Jerdon, the Lyre Bat frequents old build- 
ings, pagodas, roofs of houses, and caverns, and is very abundant 
in the innermost chambers of the cave temples of Ellora and 
A junta. The same writer states that it has been known to eat 
Frogs and fish ; indeed, Mr. Blyth also charges it with a particular 
fondness for Frogs, and says that on quiet evenings the Bats may be distinctly heard crunching the 
skulls and smaller bones of their amphibious victims. * 
The other Oriental species, the Cordate Leaf Bat ( Megaderma spasma, see figure), very nearly 
resembles the preceding, both in colour and in general characters, but the posterior division of the 
earlet is larger and more acutely pointed, the nose-leaf, although similar, is shorter, and has the sides 
convex, and its concave basal disc is considerably larger. This species is an inhabitant of the whole 
Malayan region, of Ceylon, J ava, Sumatra, Borneo, Celebes, Ternate, and the Philippine Islands. 
* See also some general remarks on the supposed carnivorous propensities of the Rhinolophhhr, p. 281 
HEAD OF Till’ AFRICAN M EG AD E JIM . 
