Chapter 39

CHAPTER V.EMBALLONURINE ALLIANCE.FAMILY V.—EMBALLONURIDÆ, OR THICK-LEGGED BATS.

Characteristics of theEmballonuridæ, orTHICK-LEGGEDBATS—CUVIER’SFURY—The GenusSaccopteryx—STRIPEDSACK-WINGEDBAT—The Pouch or Sac in the Wing-membrane—Dentition—MOUNTAINBAT—TOMBBAT—Origin of its Name—Dentition—The Peculiar Sac or Pouch under the Chin—Other Species of the Genus (note)—EGYPTIANRHINOPOME—Difficulty of Assigning its True Place in the System—Characteristics—GREATHARE-LIPPEDBAT—Seba’s Description—Linnæus’s Mistake—Dentition—Distribution—The GenusNyctinomus—CESTONI’SBAT—PALECHESTNUTMASTIFFBAT—Distribution—Habits—SMOKYMASTIFFBAT—Habits—COLLAREDBAT—Hideous Ugliness—Characteristics—NEWZEALANDSHORT-TAILEDBAT—Characteristics—Mr. Dobson on the Wing-membrane, Thumb, and Foot

THISfamily is the first of the second great group into which Mr. Dobson divides the ordinary Bats, and it includes many forms which are almost as typically Bats as theVespertilionidæthemselves. As in theVespertilionidæthe nostrils are simple, that is to say, they are quite destitute of foliaceous appendages, except in one curious genus (Rhinopoma), which has a very small nose-leaf. The character of the folding of the first phalanx of the middle finger in repose upon the upper surface of the metacarpal bone has already been mentioned as distinguishing the members of this alliance generally. It is subject to two exceptions in the present family, being extended in a line with the metacarpal bone, in the same way as in the Vespertilionine Bats, in the curious genusNoctilio, and foldedbeneaththe metacarpal in the equally singular genusMystacina. In the latter genus, moreover, the middle finger has three phalanges, the number of these bones in all otherEmballonuridæbeing two. The legs are short and stout, and have the two bones of the shank (tibia and fibula) nearly equally developed; the tail has its basal portion enclosed within the interfemoral membrane, but perforates this on the upper surface, at or beyond the middle, and is usually continued as a free organ for a considerable distance beyond this point; and the upper incisor teeth are generally two in number.

The members of this family, which are insectivorous in their habits, are chiefly confined to the tropical and sub-tropical regions of both hemispheres. A single species inhabits Europe, and one is found in New Zealand.

A curious little South American Bat, described by F. Cuvier under the name ofFuria horrens, is of interest to the zoologist as one of the links between the two great groups of Microchiroptera. It is remarkable for the form of its muzzle, which is somewhat Pig-like, cut off and turned up at the extremity, and bristling all over with hairs. The tragus is in the form of a barbed arrow-head; and the thumb is exceedingly short, and entirely enclosed within the membrane, only the claw being left free. The canine teeth in the upper jaw are very peculiar, showing four points. This Bat is only about an inch and a half long. Its eyes are large and prominent, its nostrils surrounded by slightly-raised borders, and its chin bears eight white warts, seven running round the lip, while the eighth stands in the centre. The fur is soft, thick, and black. A second species of the genus, also from South America, is described by Mr. Tomes under the name ofFuripterus cœrulescens. Its fur is of a slaty blue tint.

DENTITION OF STRIPEDSACK-WINGED BAT, ENLARGED.(After Peters.)ARM OF STRIPED SACK-WINGED BAT,FROM ABOVE.

DENTITION OF STRIPEDSACK-WINGED BAT, ENLARGED.(After Peters.)

ARM OF STRIPED SACK-WINGED BAT,FROM ABOVE.

The genusSaccopteryxis readily distinguished from all others by the existence in the membrane in front of the arm (the shoulder membrane or antebrachial membrane) of a singular sac or pouch, which is situated on the lower surface of the membrane near the elbow, and opens at the upper surface in a corresponding position.[216]This sac is not peculiar to the males, but occurs in both sexes. There are in the upper jaw only two incisor teeth, which are small and separated by an interval from each other and from the canines (seefigure above). The lower jaw has six incisors in a close row. The canines are strong and sharp, especially the upper ones; the first pre-molar is small, the second larger and acute, and the three true molars are large and strongly tubercular. The ears are of moderate size, and furnished with well-developed tragi. The interfemoral membrane occupies the whole space between the legs, and is stretched by a pair of long spurs, between which the hinder margin is either straight or incurved, and the basal portion of the short tail is enclosed in the membrane, from the upper surface of which its tip projects. The species of this genus are all American.

WING OF STRIPED SACK-WINGED BAT,FROM BELOW.

The Striped Sack-winged Bat is rather a small species, measuring about two inches and a quarter from the tip of the nose to the base of the tail. Its fur is tolerably long, full, and lustrous, that of the upper surface dark brown, with two white streaks runningdown from the shoulders to the hinder extremity of the body; the lower surface is paler, the hairs having ashy tips. It is an inhabitant of Surinam.[217]

This species is an example of a small series of Bats which, although nearly allied to the preceding, are inhabitants of the Eastern hemisphere, the known species of the genusEmballonurabeing found in the Eastern Archipelago and Australia, and in some of the oceanic islands of the Pacific. The ears in this genus are somewhat triangular in form, with the outer margin sinuated; the tragus is truncated, slightly widened at the tip, and furnished with a small blunt projection at the base of the outer margin; the muzzle is somewhat elongated, with curved nostrils situated in a rounded pit; the interfemoral membrane is large, and stretched by long spurs. There are four incisor teeth in pairs above, and six below, and two pre-molars and three molars on each side in each jaw.

MOUNTAIN BAT.

The Mountain Bat (Emballonura monticola) is a very small creature, measuring only an inch and a half in length, with a tail nearly half an inch long, the extremity of which protrudes from the back of the interfemoral membrane. The wing-membrane springs from the ankle. The general colour of the fur is a chocolate-brown, lighter on the lower surface, the hairs being in all parts chocolate-brown at the tips. Their basal portions are yellowish-white on the back and brown on the belly. The membranes are entirely naked.

This Bat is an inhabitant of Java, Sumatra, Borneo, and the Philippine Islands, where it lives in the wildest and most solitary regions of the mountains. It is social in its habits, considerable troopsof them sleeping suspended from the surfaces of perpendicular rocks, under the shade of the overhanging trees and shrubs. They are said to be unsavoury little beasts, their presence being perceptible, even at a considerable distance, by the strong and disagreeable odour with which they contaminate the air.[219]

SKULL OF TOMB BAT,ENLARGED.

During the French expedition to Egypt under the first Napoleon, M. Geoffroy, one of thesavantswho accompanied the army, discovered a species of Bat inhabiting the tombs of the ancient kings of Egypt, which differed in many important characters from all previously known Bats. He made it the type of a new genus, to which he gave the name ofTaphozous, in allusion to its tomb-haunting habits. Some other species have since been discovered in various parts of the Eastern hemisphere.

TheTaphozoihave a rather short and broad head, with a tapering muzzle, its breadth behind the eyes being due to the wideness of the zygomatic arches. The ears are separate, and their outer margins sweep round upon the cheek, terminating near the angle of the mouth; the tragus is short, somewhat widened at the apex, so as generally to have a hatchet shape; the wings are long and narrow, and the interfemoral membrane is ample, and stretched by very long spurs, between the tips of which its hinder margin is concave; the base of the tail is enclosed in the membrane, from which its tip projects. The teeth, especially the canines and upper true molars, are powerful, and the latter show the W-shaped cusps very distinctly. There are three molars and two pre-molars in each jaw, but in the upper jaw the hindmost molar is reduced to a narrow transverse plate, as shown in thefigure, and the first pre-molar is so small as scarcely to project above the gum. In the lower jaw there are four small incisors; but in the upper jaw the pre-maxillary bones are represented only by cartilage, which in the young, and sometimes in adult animals, bears a pair of minute teeth, separated from each other by a wide space, but these apparently frequently drop out as the animal advances in age. In consequence of this structure, the skull presents a peculiar appearance. The intermaxillary cartilage being lost, the front of the face presents a deep notch between two projecting processes which bear the canine teeth, and even during life the lower jaw extends further forward than the upper one, so that its incisor teeth press only against the upper lip.

DENTITION OF TOMB BAT,ENLARGED.

Another curious character presented by most of these Bats is the existence under the chin of a peculiar pouch (see figure,p. 316), which sometimes occurs in both sexes, although smaller in the females, and is sometimes altogether wanting in the latter. In some, the place of this sac, which is evidently of a glandular nature, seems to be represented by a group of small pores. The purpose of this peculiar arrangement is not clearly known; but from the greater development of the organ in the males of those species which possess it, it would appear to be of a sexual character. The peculiar wing-pouches which characterise the genusSaccopteryxare wanting in these Bats; but in most of them there is a small membranous band, enclosing the angle formed by the tip of the fore-arm and the base of the fifth finger, and thus forming a little pouch.

The Tomb Bat (Taphozous perforatus) is one of those which presents a pouch of this description, and the male also possesses a large throat-sac, which is altogether wanting in the females. It is about three inches in length, exclusive of the tail, which is thin at the extremity; the wing-membranesextend down to within about a quarter of an inch of the ankles, and the heel-spurs are about as long as the tibia. The body is covered with short dark-brown fur, which extends over the bases of the wings, and down the interfemoral membrane as far as the point where the tail emerges from it.

This is the species originally discovered by Geoffroy in the chambers of the Pyramids, and other tombs and buildings in Egypt. It is said also to inhabit Sennaar and Senegal. It flies in the evening, passes the day in the darkest places it can find, and feeds exclusively upon insects. These habits, indeed, appear to be common to all the species of the genus.[221]

HEAD OF MALE AND FEMALELONG-ARMED BAT.(After Dobson.)HEAD OF MALE AND FEMALEBLACK-BEARDED BAT.(After Dobson.)

HEAD OF MALE AND FEMALELONG-ARMED BAT.(After Dobson.)

HEAD OF MALE AND FEMALEBLACK-BEARDED BAT.(After Dobson.)

SKULL OF RHINOPOME.(After Dobson.)

This Bat, described by the French traveller and naturalist Belon, about the middle of the sixteenth century, under the name of the Egyptian Bat (Chauve-Souris d’Egypte), is one of the most singular members of the order Chiroptera. It presents so curious a combination of characters that its place in the system has always been uncertain; and owing to the presence of a small nose-leaf, it has hitherto been arranged by different writers with thePhyllostomata, theRhinolophidæ, and theNycteridæ. Its true place, according to Mr. Dobson’s recent researches, appears to be with theEmballonuridæ, with which, and especially with theTaphozoi, it certainly agrees closely in the form of the skull and the dentition. This view of the relationships of the genusRhinopomaseems also to have struck Cuvier, who, while placing the genus next toNycteris, makesTaphozousimmediately follow it.

EGYPTIAN RHINOPOME.

The genus is characterised by having the crown of the head considerably elevated, with a deep concavity in the forehead between the eyes, as inTaphozous; the muzzle considerably elongated beyond the opening of the mouth; the nostrils of valvular structure, situated in the anterior margin of a very small, erect nose-leaf, which bears some resemblance to those of the Phyllostomes; the ears rather large, united upon the forehead (a Nycterid character), and furnished with a well-developed tragus; and the tail long and slender, and free throughout almost its whole length from the interfemoral membrane, which is exceedingly short. The upper incisors are two in number, and of very small size, inserted in intermaxillary bones which unite with the maxillaries by slender processes, a character which also occurs inEmballonura. In the lower jaw there are four incisors in a close row. The canines are strong, and followed on each side by a single pre-molar in the upper, and two in the lower jaw; and there are three true molars with W-shaped cusps on each side in both jaws: thus the dental formula is—incisors,1–14, canines,1–11–1, pre-molars,1–12–2, molars,3–33–3. The index finger consists of three joints, a metacarpal bone and two phalanges, a structure which occurs in no other Insectivorous Bats.

The EgyptianRhinopome, which is probably distributed over a considerable portion of the African continent, is a small Bat, the length of the head and body being only about two inches and a quarter. The portion of the tail free from the membrane is about the same length as the head and body, and the interfemoral membrane encloses about another half-inch. It has a nearly naked face, along the middle of which a narrow groove runs back from the base of the little nose-leaf to the deep concavity situated in the forehead between the eyes; the wing-membranes are attached to the tibia for about two-thirds of the length of the latter, and are entirely free from hair; and the small development of the membranes, coupled with the comparatively great length of the limb-bones, renders this Bat more active in walking than most of his fellows. The fur is short, and leaves a good deal of the hinder part of the back naked; and the bare skin thus exposed, as well as the base of the wings, is curiously wrinkled, a character which this species has in common with certain species ofTaphozoiandMolossi.

The Egyptian Rhinopome is found commonly in Egypt, where it frequents the numerous ruins and old buildings with which that country abounds, and is particularly abundant in the dark galleries and chambers of the Pyramids.[223]

In Seba’s well-known illustrated book on Natural History a peculiar species of Bat is described and figured under the name of “Vespertilio cato similis americanus.” It may be doubtful whether any of our domestic Grimalkins would be much flattered by the likeness thus briefly indicated (seefigure), but there can be no doubt that the animal in question was a Bat, and as such it duly appears in the earlier editions of the “Systema Naturæ” of Linnæus. By a curious misapplication of the very sound principle of not being guided exclusively by external characters, the great Swedish naturalist was led in the last edition of his work (in which he founded the genusNoctilio) to refer the animal to the Rodents, on the ground of the apparent presence of only two incisors in each jaw.

A glance at the dentition of aNoctiliowill at once show how Linnæus was misled, and at the same time that it has all the dental characters of a Bat. In the upper jaw there are four incisor teeth, the two middle ones approximated and considerably larger than the lateral ones, which are placed quite behind them, leaving a small open space between the incisors and the larger canines, behind which comes a series of four molars showing the characteristic W-shaped cusps very distinctly. In the lower jaw there are only two small notched incisors, followed immediately by the powerful canines, behind which is a series of five molars, the first very small, the second larger, but simple and pyramidal, and the remainder with distinct cusps and ridges.

HEAD OF GREATHARE-LIPPED BAT.

The ears in the Bats of this genus are rather large and furnished with a small tragus, the outer margin of which is notched. The outer margin of the ear forms a rounded lobe upon the cheek, and is then continued to the angle of the mouth. The upper lip is widely cleft, forming a broad margined fissure running up to the nostrils, which are surrounded by borders raised to such an extent as togive them almost a tubular appearance; and the lower lip, which is also thickened, bears several curious folds of skin; the whole in combination giving a most singular and forbidding expression to the little creature. The wing-membranes descend but little below the knee, but the interfemoral membrane is ample, stretched by very long spurs, and traversed in its basal part by the short tail, the tip of which projects from its upper surface like a little knob.

The great Hare-lipped Bat (Noctilio leporinus), which is distributed over the whole of tropical and sub-tropical South America, from the West Indies in the north to Paraguay and Chili in the south, is about three inches and three-quarters in length without the tail, and has an expanse of wing of about twenty-one inches. The general colour of the fur on the back is greyish-brown or reddish-brown, but in many specimens a yellowish-white streak runs from the nape down the middle of the back to the root of the tail. The throat, neck, and belly are reddish-yellow, the ears, membranes, and other naked parts blackish-brown. The interfemoral membrane extends about two inches beyond the tail, which is three-quarters of an inch long, and the heel-spurs are more than an inch in length.

This Bat lives in large parties in hollow trees, caverns, the roofs of buildings, and even among the dense foliage of trees, but generally in the immediate vicinity of water. In the twilight they are seen in great numbers flying, almost in the same way as the Swallows in Europe, in great flocks over the surface of the water, close to which they skim with a very rapid flight in pursuit of the insects which constitute their food. The voice is described by Prince Maximilian of Neuwied as a hissing sound. According to an observation made by Mr. Louis Fraser in Ecuador, the object of theNoctilioin haunting the waters is not so peaceful as that of most bats, which, so far as we know, resort to the lakes and rivers only to drink. Mr. Fraser describes it as flying along the banks of rivers, and from time to time dashing down upon the surface of the water, where it captures small Crustaceans as they swim up the stream. He adds that the Bats have a fishy odour, and possibly they do not strictly confine themselves to invertebrate prey.[225]

We come now to a series of Bats (theMolossiof Professor Peters and Mr. Dobson) which we shall treat here as belonging to three genera, the classification and nomenclature of which are attended with considerable difficulty, partly owing to the variability of characters on which we are accustomed to rely in the definition of generic groups, and partly to the confusion which has arisen in the use of the generic names employed especially by the older writers. They are all stoutly and rather clumsily built Bats, with short, thick muzzles, a character which has obtained for some of them the name of Bulldog Bats; the tail is thick, and projects beyond the margin of the interfemoral membrane, the hinder limbs are short and stout, and the fibula or second bone in the shank is well developed, often nearly as large as the tibia.

SKULL AND FRONT TEETHOF CESTONI’S BAT.(After Temminck.)

In the genusNyctinomus, as we shall here restrict it, the ears are large, and generally united upon the forehead or on the muzzle in front of the eyes, either directly or by a fold of skin, and furnished with a distinct tragus, and the upper lip is more or less distinctly folded or wrinkled. The intermaxillary bones are generally separated by a cleft; and in all the species they bear two incisor teeth, which are separated by a space from each other and from the canines, whilst the lower jaw has six incisors in young animals, and usually only four in the adults. The canines are strong, and followed in the upper jaw by either four or five teeth, the number of premolars being either one or two. In the lower jaw there are always two premolars, and three true molars. The first and fifth toes are much thicker than the rest. The species of this genus occur in the warmer parts of both hemispheres.

HEAD OF CESTONI’S BAT.(From theProceedings ofthe Zoological Society).

Cestoni’s Bat, originally discovered at Pisa, is the only species of the group that occurs in Europe, and forms the type of the genusDinopsof Professor Savi, now regarded as a sub-genus ofNyctinomus. It is one of the species with five molars in each jaw, and six incisors permanently in thelower 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 ofNyctinomusare 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 distribution, 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.[227]

This widely-distributed species belongs to the typical sub-genusNyctinomus, 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 northwards 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, “They generally appear from half-past five to six o’clock, directly after sundown, 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, Vere, Jamaica, these Bats were exceedingly abundant, passing the day clinging together in clusters, notwithstanding the heat experienced immediately 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,“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 under part and head—an action far from ungraceful. The foot is then cleaned quickly with the teeth or tongue, and restored to its first use,” of suspending the animal. A little after sundown, according to Mr. Osburn, the roof is alive with movement, betrayed by squeaks and a scuffling shuffle over the boards, and the Bats scramble eagerly up the shingles, and escape through any opening they may find, shooting off with great rapidity in search of their insect prey. In March they made their exit about half-past six o’clock in the evening, returning to their dwelling-place about eight or nine o’clock. “It is then,” says Mr. Osburn, “they are so particularly annoying to the inhabitants of even the most carefully kept Jamaica houses. The great majority return to the roof; but one or two vigorous little fellows come into the room, and flap about in the most unmeaning way. Nothing is more remarkable than the agility with which a dozen, in the early part of the evening, skimmed and glided by every article of furniture. But now they bang themselves against the ceiling and walls, drop on the table, get up again, when the Cat, by jumping, catches them a pat, and they fall on the floor, not much hurt, to judge by their liveliness, for Grimalkin, having performed the feat, sits down, her paws tucked under, and gravely watches the hurry of the alarmed Bat shuffling over the floor. They disturb the harmony of the evening by becoming the occupants of, and making an escapade beneath, a gentleman’s coat collar, or a great sensation by getting hopelessly entangled in a lady’s hair, and bite more furiously than effectively during the process of release.” These restless little fellows, which must at least add considerably to the liveliness of an eveningréunionin those parts of Jamaica where they abound, remain very active in their quarters all night, and start out in search of their breakfast so early that they return home again by five or six o’clock. They then seem to amuse themselves, before retiring to their own repose, by breaking the slumbers of the people whose evening hours they have enlivened as above described, by flying about the bedrooms with a rushing sound and many squeaks. The species is exceedingly common in Jamaica, and seems always to inhabit houses. Mr. Gosse (“Naturalist in Jamaica,” p. 159) also describes the habits of this Bat, which he calls the Chestnut Mastiff Bat.[229]

In this abundant American Bat the fur is generally of a smoky-brown colour, with the bases of the hairs whitish; on the lower surface some of the hairs are entirely white, and the rest brown, with the base and apex whitish. The length of the head and body is from three and a half to four and a half inches, and that of the tail about two inches, nearly half of which projects beyond the membrane. The heel-spurs are very long. In this and the other species ofMolossus, the intermaxillary bones are united, and the upper incisors close together in front.[231]

The Smoky Mastiff Bat is a well-known South American species, and extends also into the West Indian islands. In Jamaica it was observed and described by Mr. Gosse under the name of the Monk Bat, in allusion to the fact that he found the species living in large communities, but always of one sex. Mr. Osburn also observed it in the same island, and has given a long account of its habits. In the house in which he was living at Shettlewood, these Bats swarmed in the roof, and during the breeding-season, his bedroom, situated immediately below, was rendered so offensive by their peculiar odour, that he was compelled to have every window left wide open at night. The Bats passed out from the roof under the eaves, but not unfrequently small parties of them would come in through the windows and take a short flight round the room. A man sent up into the roof brought down four or five quarts of the Bats, all of which proved to be males. These Bats also live in holes in dead stumps of cocoa-nut trees, and Mr. Osburn describes as follows the results of felling one of the stumps thus occupied. He says:—“It was broken into fragments by the fall, and among them a perfect hecatomb of these little Bats, scattered into two distinct heaps, corresponding to a high and a lower storey in the tree. There must have been at least 150 or 200 altogether. The heap which occupied the upper hole were exclusively males; those in the lower, females, in large proportion, though there seemed a male here and there among them.” Mr. Osburn’s observations thus strikingly confirm those of Mr. Gosseas to the curious habit of segregation on the part of the males of this species, which induced the latter gentleman to give it the name of the Monk Bat. The holes occupied by the Bats contained a great quantity of dust looking like coarse snuff, which proved to consist entirely of fragments of the hard parts of insects. Mr. Gosse appears not to have observed this Bat in houses, but he describes it as living in great numbers together in the hollows of decayed thatch-palms. He had brought to him a large basket containing a number of the Bats obtained from such a tree, and says that, on being uncovered, it “displayed a pretty scene of dusky life. The ‘pie’ of our infant days, that contained ‘four-and-twenty blackbirds’ all ready to sing, was nothing to it. Fifty Bats, all alive and kicking, were huddled into the narrow space; an arrangement which, considering their natural propensities, was probably not very disagreeable to them. I examined forty-three, a few escaping from the crowd, and if I was surprised before at the extent of their gregarious habits, I was still more surprised to find that of this number every one was of the male sex, as had been the one formerly examined.... As they huddled and crawled over each other they emitted quivering squeaks. They all displayed the extraordinary activity mentioned above, preferring to run rather than fly, though a few took to wing. In climbing, to suspend themselves, they used the thumbs or the hind-feet indiscriminately. In running along the floor, an action which they performed very swiftly, they rested on the wrists, elevating the fore-parts of the body considerably.”

The Mastiff Bats certainly cannot boast of any great attractiveness in their aspect, but they must yield the palm of ugliness to a curious species described by Dr. Horsfield. It is a clumsy, heavy-looking animal, of considerable size for a Bat, measuring more than five inches in length from the tip of the nose to the root of the tail. Its body is entirely covered with a thick black skin, which is absolutely naked on the back, and has only a few short hairs upon the sides of the body, the interfemoral membrane, and the lower surface. The face and lips also have a few fine long hairs, and a curious collar of brown hairs runs round the neck. To add to the charms of the creature, the skin is thrown into thick folds in various parts of the body; the legs are thick, and terminated by clumsy feet, in which the first toe is very large, bristling with long hairs on the outside, and widely separated from the others, so as to acquire very much the character of a posterior thumb; the interfemoral membrane is short, forming a mere band between the legs, from which the tail, which is about half as long as the body, and very thick, projects for about two-thirds of its length. The head is long; the muzzle, which is truncated, projects considerably beyond the lower jaw; the ears are quite separate, triangular, with the tips rounded; the tragus is very small; the wings are long, and rather narrow, and their membrane extends down to about the middle of the shank, but springs from such a level on the sides of the body, that a deep cavity is formed on each side under the armpit, which is converted into a sort of pouch by an extension of the skin of the sides to the lower surface of the upper arm and thigh. In the pouches thus formed, and close to the armpits, the nipples are situated. There are two incisor teeth in each jaw, the upper ones strong, and implanted in well-developed and united intermaxillary bones. The upper jaw has one, and the lower jaw two premolars on each side, and there are three true molars on each side in both jaws.

HEAD OF COLLARED BAT.(After Temminck.)

This hideous Bat was discovered in the peninsula of Malacca, and has since been found in Java, Sumatra, and Borneo. It does not appear to be abundant in its native countries, and its apparent rarity is doubtless increased by its selecting for its residence the wildest and most solitary districts in the heart of the great forests. During the day it usually retreats to the hollow trunks of trees, but sometimes takes its repose in holes in the ground or in clefts of the rocks, coming out soon after sundown, when it is seen flying heavily about the borders of the woods, or even high up above the forest in the plains.

Another curious but by no means agreeable peculiarity of this species remains to be noticed. Across the base of the neck, immediately in front of the breast, there is a great pouch, formed apparently by a fold of the skin, which receives an oily secretion from a large gland, regarded by Professor Temminck as perhaps analogous to the thyroid. In the male this gland is very broad, and divided into two lobes, and the fluid secreted by it passes into the pouch by a great number of small pores. In the female the apparatus is smaller, but more complicated; the gland is composed of two small lobes, but between these there is a membranous pouch or reservoir, in which the oily fluid seems to become concentrated, forming a brown, granular, fatty matter, which passes into the great throat-pouch through a single large opening. This secretion possesses an odour so strong as to be still perceptible after the animals have been preserved in spirits for several years; and Dr. Salomon Müller states that his artist, M. van Oort, when engaged in making a drawing from a living specimen, was affected with a headache and nausea so violent that he had much difficulty in completing his task. It appears that the fetid fluid gets diffused over the hairs bordering the throat-pouch, and thus readily passes off into the air, and spreads to a long distance round the places inhabited by the Bats, and may thus serve, as Professor Temminck suggests, to enable these creatures to find each other in the dark retreats which they frequent. This would apply to other species which diffuse a peculiar odour, although none of them seem to possess so powerful an odoriferous secretion as the Collared Bat.

COLLARED BAT. (After Temminck.)

We have already noticed the occurrence in New Zealand of a species of Bat nearly allied to the common Bats of Europe, although differing from them in certain characters which have led to theformation of a distinct genus for it. The present species, the second known Bat of New Zealand, is a far more remarkable animal; in fact, its characters are so singular that it forms not only a distinct genus, but a peculiar sub-division of the family to which it belongs.

HEAD OF NEW ZEALANDSHORT-TAILED BAT.(From theProceedings ofthe Zoological Society.)

The Short-tailed Bat of New Zealand, which appears to be not of very common occurrence there, is a small Bat, not exceeding two inches and a half in length of head and body; the body is short and broad; the muzzle is greatly produced beyond the opening of the mouth, and terminates in a sort of projecting snout, which carries the nostrils towards the sides of its tip; the ears are quite separate, simple, ovate, and slightly pointed at the tips, and furnished with a long, narrow, and pointed tragus; the wings are rather short and broad, and the middle finger consists of four joints, having three true phalanges; the wing-membranes extend down to the end of the shank; a narrow band of the membrane running from the wrist down the arm, and bordering the side of the body and the leg, the antebrachial or shoulder membrane and the basal part of the interfemoral membrane are thick and leathery, and marked with numerous deep wrinkles on the upper surface. The tail is short, and only a very small portion of it is enclosed in the interfemoral membrane. The dentition is exceedingly peculiar. There are two upper incisors, which are nearly of the same shape as the canines; the lower jaw also has two incisors, but these are small, three-lobed at the tip, and placed in front of the canines, which are of large size, and nearly in contact at the base. There are two premolars and three true molars on each side in both jaws.

The fur is short, crisp, and thick, and extends forward on the head towards the nose, where it is bounded in front by a frill of stiff, upright hairs. On the upper parts of the body the fur is dusky at the base and tipped with a shining greyish-brown, with a slight olive tinge. On the lower surface the hairs are brown at the base, with greyish-brown tips. The membranes are dark-brown, with the wrinkled, leathery portion paler, and of a yellowish tinge. Of the habits of this species nothing has been recorded.

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