122 
NATURAL HISTORY. 
[N. ZOOL. GAL. 
skin, which enables them to fly, or rather flutter, like a bird. The 
thumb is always simple and free ; they live suspended by their hinder 
legs, head downwards, during the day, flying and searching for their 
food by night. They walk with their wings folded up, on their hind 
feet and the wrists of the front ones, assisted by their fore thumb, by 
which they also sometimes suspend themselves. 
The Leaf-nosed Bats ( Istiophori ) have the nostrils placed in a se¬ 
parate bald space, which is often elevated behind into a leaf; their teeth 
are acutely tubercular, and their index finger is not clawed. 
The true Leaf-nosed kinds ( Phyllostomina ) have the nasal disk ex¬ 
panded into a distinct leaf, which is simple behind, and pierced with the 
nostrils in front; they are peculiar to warm climates. Those which are 
only found in the New 7 World are peculiar among bats for having four 
joints to their middle finger; their forehead is simple, and their ears 
lateral. Those of this group which live on insects have an entire under 
lip, with a small triangular smooth place in front. Some of these have 
no tail, and a large truncated femoral membrane, as Vampyrus , Carollia , 
and Lophostoma; others have the interfemoral membrane deeply 
notched, as Arctibeus and Brachyphylla. Phyllostoma has a short tail 
on the upper side of the membrane ; and Macrophyllum has a long tail, 
extended to the tip of the truncated membrane. Those which live on 
blood, (which they suck from living animals, especially during their 
sleep, and have hence been called Vampyres ,) have a deep cut in the 
centre of the front of the lower lip, which is often fringed, into which 
their elongated tongue is fitted. The head is elongated, and the chin 
is covered with reflexed whiskers. Among these the true Glossophaga 
are peculiar for having no tail. The Monophylli 'and Phyllophorce 
have a short tail, with the tip on the back of the truncated membrane: 
and the Anource have neither tail nor membrane. The Stenodermce 
are like the latter, but their nose leaf is double; they are said to have 
no grinders, and a simple intestinal tube. Those which are found in 
the Old World, like the rest of the Bats, have only three joints to the 
middle finger. Some, as Rhinopoma, have a large pit on the forehead, 
and the ears are large and close together. Megaderma and Lavia have 
a simple forehead and large ears, which are united together ovei*the fore¬ 
head ; they have no tail, very large interfemoral membranes, and wings. 
The Horse-shoe Bats ( Rhinolophina ) have the nasal disk expanded 
into a leaf behind, and with a pit or process between the nostrils in 
front. In the genus Ariteus the nose-disk is large, with a deep pit be¬ 
tween the nostrils; they have no • ail, and their interfemoral membrane 
is very narrow. The true Horse-shoe Bats have a long tail, inclosed in 
a large interfemoral membrane ; and there is a process between the 
nostrils; they are only found in the Old World. The nose-leaf of 
Rhinolophas is lanceolate and erect; of Hipposideros short, reflexed, 
w 7 ith a thick cross rib ; and in Asellia three-toothed. Cyclopia , which 
has the same kind of nose-leaf as Hipposideros , has an expansile pore 
on the forehead. These Bats often have the side of the face covered 
with transverse membranous folds. 
The remainder of the. Bats, or Cheiroptera , have been called Simple¬ 
nosed Bats ( Anistiophora ), because their nostrils are simply pierced in 
the end of the muzzle, without any nasal disk. 
The tribe of true Bats ( Vespertilionina) have acutely tubercular 
