Natural History of the Mammalia of India and Ceylon Part 8

Dental formula: Inc., 0/4; can., 1--1/1--1; pre-m., 2--2/2--2; molars, 3--3/3--3.

NO. 36. MEGADERMA LYRA.

_The Large-eared Vampire Bat_ (_Jerdon's No. 15_).

HABITAT.--India and Ceylon.

[Figure: _Megaderma lyra_.]

DESCRIPTION.--Above ashy blue, slaty or pale mouse colour; albescent or yellowish ashy beneath; nasal appendage large, oblong, free at the tip, reaching to the base of the ears with a fold down the centre; tragus (_oreillon_) cordate, two-lobed, anterior long, narrow and pointed, posterior lobe half the height and rounded; muzzle truncated; under-lip cleft; wing membranes dark brown.

SIZE.--Head and body, 3 or 3-1/2 inches; wing extent, 14 to 19 inches.

Very abundant in old buildings. They are beyond doubt blood-suckers.

Blyth noticed one fly into his room one evening with a small _vespertilio_, which it dropped on being chased. The smaller bat was weak from loss of blood, and next morning (the Megaderm having been caught), on both bats being put into the same cage, the little one was again attacked and devoured; it was seized both times behind the ear. McMaster writes that in Rangoon he had a tame canary killed by a bat, and the bird's mate soon afterwards was destroyed in the same way. The case was clearly proved.

Mr. Frith informed Mr. Blyth that these bats were in the habit of resorting to the verandah of his house at Mymensing, and that every morning the ground under them was strewed with the hind quarters of frogs, and the wings of large gra.s.shoppers and crickets. On one occasion the remains of a small fish were observed; but frogs appeared to be their chief diet--never toads; and of a quiet evening these animals could be distinctly heard crunching the heads and smaller bones of their victims.

NO. 37. MEGADERMA SPECTRUM.

_The Cashmere Vampire_ (_Jerdon's No. 16_).

HABITAT.--Cashmere.

DESCRIPTION.--Above slaty cinereous, whitish beneath; the vertical nose-leaf of moderate size, oval; inner lobe of tragus ovate (_Jerdon_).

SIZE.--Two and three-quarter inches.

Dobson makes this bat synonymous with the last.

NO. 38. MEGADERMA SPASMA.

HABITAT.--Tena.s.serim, Ceylon.

[Figure: _Megaderma spasma_.]

DESCRIPTION.--Muzzle, ear-conch, and tragus similar to those of _M.

lyra_; the posterior portion of the tragus, however, is longer and more attenuated upwards, and more acutely pointed; the nose-leaf is shorter, with convex sides; but the anterior concave disc is considerably larger, and the base of the thickened process is cordate; thumbs and wings as in _M. lyra_; interfemoral membrane deeper; the calcaneum stronger; colour the same.

SIZE.--Head and body, about 3 inches. This bat is alluded to by Jerdon as _M. Horsfieldii_.

RHINOLOPHINAE.

Nasal leaf complicated, and crests resting on the forehead, presenting more or less the figure of a horse-shoe; tail long and placed in the interfemoral membrane; ears large, but separate, and not joined at the base, as in the last genus; without a tragus, but often with a lobe at the base of the outer margin; wings large and long; forefinger of a single joint.

_GENUS RHINOLOPHUS_.

Nose-leaf cordate, or semi-orbicular, bi-lobed in front of the nostrils; a longitudinal crest along the nose and an erect frontal leaf posteriorly more or less lanceolate.--_Jerdon_.

Dental formula: Inc., 2/4; can., 1--1/1--1; premolars, 2--2/2--2; molars, 3--3/3--3.

NO. 39. RHINOLOPHUS PERNIGER _vel_ LUCTUS.

_The Large Leaf-Bat_ (_Jerdon's No. 17_).

HABITAT.--Nepaul, Darjeeling, Khasya Hills.

[Figure: _Rhinolophus luctus_.]

DESCRIPTION.--Ears very large, much longer than the head; broad, acutely pointed; nasal apparatus very complicated; the lower leaf very large, concealing the upper lip like a door knocker; the upper leaf like a graduated spire; ears transversely striate; a rather large semi-circular lobe at base of ear; fur long, dense, soft, and lax, slightly curled or woolly black with a silvery grizzle, or greyish-black or rich chestnut-brown.--_Jerdon_.

SIZE.--Length, 3-3/4; tail, 1-3/4; wing expanse, 17 inches.

NO. 40. RHINOLOPHUS MITRATUS.

_The Mitred Leaf-Bat_ (_Jerdon's No. 18_).

HABITAT.--Chyba.s.sa, Central India, Mussoorie(?)

DESCRIPTION.--Ears large; anti-helix moderately developed; upper leaf triangular acute; tail extending beyond the tibia; color above light brown; paler beneath.--_Jerdon_.

SIZE.--Head and body, 2-1/2 inches; tail, 1-1/2 inch; wing expanse, 12 to 14 inches.

NO. 41. RHINOLOPHUS TRAGATUS _vel_ FERRUM-EQUINUM.

_The Dark-brown Leaf-Bat_ (_Jerdon's No. 19_).

HABITAT.--Nepaul, Mussoorie.

[Figure: _Rhinolophus ferrum-equinum_.]

DESCRIPTION.--Upper process like a barbed spear-head; central one small and narrow, a little expanded at the summit; anti-tragus less developed than usual; lips simple; colour a uniform deep brown, with tips of the hair paler, and somewhat rusty.--_Jerdon_.

SIZE.--Head and body, 2-5/8 inches; tail, 1-7/8 inch; wing, 15-1/2 inches.

The tail of this species seems unusually long. It is found in cavities of rock, and issues forth soon after dusk--sooner, according to Hodgson, than the species of _vespertilio_.

NO. 42. RHINOLOPHUS PEARSONII.

_Pearson's Leaf-Bat_ (_Jerdon's No. 20_).

HABITAT.--Lower Himalayan range, Darjeeling, Mussoorie, &c.

DESCRIPTION.--Colour above dark brown, with a slight shade of chestnut; underneath brown, with a sooty cast; fur very long, dense and soft; ears distinct, with an additional rounded lobe below, measuring anteriorly nearly three-fourths of an inch; point of the facial crest moderately developed; length from the tip of the nose to root of tail three inches; tail half an inch; length of fore-arm two inches; expanse of the wings eleven inches. Although allied to Mr. Hodgson's _R. tragatus_, possesses distinct characters.--_Horsfield_.