THE FAZE CHESTNUT MASTIFF BAT. 
319 
lower jaw ; and the tail extends for fully half its length beyond the interfemoral membrane, which is 
small, and stretched by long curved heel-spurs. A small membranous band crosses the shank, uniting 
the wing with the interfemoral membrane. The general colour of the fur is a mouse-grey, paler below ; 
on the backs of the toes there are some long white hairs. The wings in this and the other species of 
Nyctinomus are long but narrow ; the second finger, which runs to the tip of the wing, being very 
long, so long indeed that its metacarpal bone alone exceeds the fourth 
or hindmost finger in length. The inner toe also is rather larger 
than the rest, and somewhat separated from them, without, however, 
taking on the form and function of an opposable thumb. The head 
and body in this Bat are about three inches and a quarter long, 
and the tail rather more than two inches, of which about an inch 
is within the interfemoral membrane. It has a very wide distribu- 
tion, being found in the South of Europe and throughout Northern 
Africa, and occurring also at Amoy, in China, where Mr. Swinhoe 
obtained specimens of it. He describes the interfemoral membrane 
as fitting loosely on the tail like a glove, so that it can slip up and 
down at the will of the animal. It flies high in the air, where it 
can be readily distinguished by the narrowness of its wings. A 
specimen that Mr. Swinhoe kept for some time alive would slip the 
interfemoral membrane up and down when irritated, and had the 
further disagreeable habit under such circumstances of protruding its eyes until they seemed ready 
to fall out of their sockets. In Egypt Cestoni’s Bat is one of those that frequent the Pyramids and 
other old buildings, which must make that country a perfect paradise for Bats. * 
THE PALE CHESTNUT MASTIFF BAT.f 
This widely-distributed species belongs to the typical sub-genus Nyctinomus , in which the 
characters of the genus are most clearly manifested, the upper lip especially being very strongly folded. 
Its total length is about four inches, an inch and a half of which is made up by the tail, about half of 
which is enclosed by the interfemoral membrane. The body is covered with a thick, short, soft fur, 
which scarcely encroaches upon the membranes, and is composed of hairs of a fawn colour at the tips, 
with the basal portion whitish or light ash colour • the fawn colour is paler on the lower surface of the 
body. The ears are of considerable size, rounded, closely approaching each other, but not joining on 
the top of the head, and furnished with a small tragus. The inner margin of the ear bears a row of 
five or six minute warts. 
This species is found commonly in South America and the West Indies, and also extends north- 
wards into the United States, at least as far as Charleston, in South Carolina. Mr. Osburn gives an 
excellent account of its habits, as observed by him in Jamaica, where this Bat is often very abundant 
in the houses. He says, u They generally appear from half-past five to six o’clock, directly after sun- 
down, and occasionally appear up to ten o’clock, but not in such numbers. They again make their 
appearance in my bedroom before dawn. The beating of their wings, with the occasional squeaking 
call, is quite familiar to me as the first sound of morning.” Its cry resembles the sound “ click-click.” 
In the shingled roof of the house at Rowington Park, Yere, Jamaica, these Bats were exceedingly 
abundant, passing the day clinging together in clusters, notwithstanding the heat experienced imme- 
diately beneath the shingles. Mr. Osburn says that he “ counted fourteen little heads in a mass about 
the size of a turnip.” Under these circumstances, however, they are not all asleep. “ Now and then,” 
says Mr. Osburn, u a wing is stretched in drowsy enjoyment ; and the luxury King James thought too 
great for subjects, and ought to be reserved for kings, is largely indulged in by Bats. First one and 
then another wakes up, and withdrawing one leg, and leaving itself suspended by the other alone, 
adroitly uses the foot at liberty as a comb, with a rapid, effective movement dressing the hair of the 
* Nyctinomus tragatus (Dobson), from Continental India, is a nearly allied species, as also Nyctinomus plicatus, en 
inhabitant of India, Sumatra, Java, and Borneo. 
f Nyctinomus brasiliensis. 
head op cestoni’s BAT. (From tbe 
Proceedings of the Zoological Society.) 
