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BATS. 
In habits it is a sociable species, being found in large numbers in its 
favourite places of repose, which are generally buildings, especially church-towers. 
Thus, in the year 1848, an enormous colony was discovered in the roof and tower of 
the church of the village of Arrow, near Alcester. Its range extends from Ireland 
to the Ural Mountains, and from the south of Sweden to the Alps. 
Another closely-allied British species is Bechstein’s bat ( V. bechsteini), which is 
limited to Europe, and is of rather larger size than the last: the length of the head 
and body being 2 inches instead of 165 inch. It is distinguished by the hinder 
margin of the membrane between the legs being naked instead of fringed, and 
also by the shorter tail, of which the length is less than half that of the head and 
body. The colour is reddish-grey above, and greyish-white below. It is very 
rare in England, but has been taken in the New Forest. 
We must not leave this group of the genus Vespertilio without referring to an 
African species remarkable for its gorgeous coloration. This is Welwitsch’s bat 
(V welwitschi), from Angola, on the West Coast. In this bat (which is closely 
allied to the last species), while the head and body are reddish above and straw- 
coloured beneath, the naked wing-membranes are variegated with orange and 
black, the dark portions being of a triangular shape, and occupying the spaces 
between the second and third, and third and fourth lingers, and also the space 
included between the fourth finger, and a line drawn between the wrist and the 
ankle; the remaining portions being orange. Then, again, the membrane between 
the legs is margined behind by a black band, and dotted over with small 
black spots; similar dots also occurring upon the orange - coloured portions of 
the wings between the arms and legs. Hodgson’s bat ( V formosus ) of India 
and China, which is more nearly related to the under-mentioned whiskered bat, 
has an almost identical coloration, the only difference being that the membrane 
between the legs is wholly orange, and the black spots are wanting from the 
wings. 
While on the subject of brilliantly-coloured bats, we may mention two other 
species belonging to different genera. One of these is the Indian painted bat 
(Cerivoula picta), belonging to a genus ( Cerivoula ) closely allied to Vespertilio, but 
distinguished by having the upper incisor teeth parallel instead of divergent. In 
this bat the fur on the upper-parts is of a deep orange or ferruginous red, and that 
beneath paler. The wing-membranes are black, with orange spots and lines of 
orange along the fingers and on the margins, while the membrane between the legs 
is wholly orange. So brilliant indeed is the species, that it is said to have the 
appearance of a gorgeous butterfly rather than a bat. 
Our second example of contrasting coloration is the white-winged bat 
(iV ycticejus albofuscus), from the River Gambia, on the West Coast of Africa. The 
genus Nycticejus, which has been incidentally mentioned on p. 280, is closely 
related to Vesperugo. In colour the body of the white-winged bat is dark amber- 
brown both above and below; and the naked skin of all the portions exposed when 
the creature is at rest is likewise of a nearly similar hue. On the other hand, 
those portions of the wing-membranes lying external to a line drawn from the 
elbow to the knee are pure white on both sides, thus contrasting very markedly 
with the dark tint of the body and limbs. All the other known members of 
