SIZE.Head and body, 3 inches; tail, 1½ inch; expanse, 14. Hodgson, who procured it at Darjeeling, writes of it: "Entire legs and caudal membrane clad in fur like the body, which is thick and woolly. Colour bright rusty above; sooty below, the hairs tipped with hoary."
This bat is, for its size, one of the most powerfully armed with teeth. The skull reminds one of that of a dog or hyæna in miniature; the teeth are very stout, the canines blunt and conical, and the cusps of the molars short and blunt, well coated with enamel; the jaws are correspondingly muscular and adapted to the food of the animal, which consists of hard-shelled beetles, the crushed cases of which have been found in its stomach.
NO. 100. HARPIOCEPHALUS (MURINA) SUILLUSThe Pig-Bat (Jerdon's No. 51)HABITAT.Darjeeling (Jerdon); Malayan archipelago.
DESCRIPTION.Muzzle narrow, elongated; nostrils very prominent, which, viewed from below, resemble in shape a small hour-glass placed horizontally at the extremity of the muzzle; ears moderate, shorter than the head, rounded at the tips; tragus moderately long, attenuated above and slightly curved outwards; fur light greyish-brown; extremities dark brown; beneath light greyish-brown throughout.Dobson.
SIZE.Head and body, 1¾ to 2 inches; tail, 1½ inch; expanse 9 to 10.
NO. 101. HARPIOCEPHALUS AURATUSHABITAT.Thibet.
DESCRIPTION.Head and muzzle as in H. suillus, but the nostrils are differently shaped; each nostril forms a distinct tube directed sublaterally with a circular aperture marked by a very small notch on the outer and upper margin (Dobson). The whole body is thickly clad; the fur on the back is black, with bright golden yellow tips; the back of the fore-arm covered with short golden hair; the hair of the under parts black with silvery tips, whiter on the lower jaw, neck and pubis; the interfemoral membrane is covered with very long hair, which forms a fringe along its free margin extending on the legs and feet, and projecting beyond the toes; underneath short silvery hair.
SIZE.Head and body 1·4 inch; tail 1·2.
NO. 102. HARPIOCEPHALUS GRISEUSHABITAT.Jeripani, N.W. Himalayas.
DESCRIPTION.Head and muzzle as in H. suillus; fur above dark brown, with yellowish-brown extremities; beneath similar, but with the extreme points of the hairs ashy.
SIZE.Head and body, 1·4 inch; tail 1 inch.
This bat was found near Mussoorie by Captain Hutton, who writes that it occurs, but sparingly, on the outer southern range of hills at 5500 feet. It skims close to the ground, and somewhat leisurely over the surface of the crops and grass; and one which flew into his room kept low down, passing under chairs and tables, instead of soaring towards the ceiling, as bats generally do.
NO. 103. HARPIOCEPHALUS LEUCOGASTERHABITAT.N.W. Himalayas, Thibet.
DESCRIPTION.Head and muzzle as in H. harpia; fur long and dense, above brown with grey bases; underneath whitish; sides light brown. It differs from the next species by a small projecting tooth on the inner margin of the ear conch, by the smaller size of the first upper premolar, and by the colour.Dobson.
SIZE.Head and body, 1·9 inch; tail 1·5.
NO. 104. HARPIOCEPHALUS CYCLOTISHABITAT.Darjeeling, Ceylon.
DESCRIPTION.Similar to the last, but with round ears; fur bicoloured, the hairs being dark brown at the base, with bright ferruginous tips; below pale brown; the upper surface of the interfemoral membrane and back of the feet covered with hair, which also extends beyond the toes; the first premolar in the upper jaw nearly equal in size to the second, whereas in the last species it is only about three-fourths.
SIZE.Head and body, 1·7 inch; tail, 1·5.
GENUS KERIVOULADESCRIPTION.Muzzle long and narrow; skull very concave between the nasal bones and the vertex, so that the crown appears considerably vaulted; ears funnel-shaped and semi-transparent; tragus very long, narrow and pointed; wings very wide; tail longer than head and body, wholly contained within the interfemoral membrane.
Dentition: Inc., 22/6; can., 11/11; premolars, 33/33; molars, 33/33.
The generic name of this bat is composed of two Singhalese wordskehel or kela, the plantain, and voulha, which is the Singhalese for bat, the specimen on which Gray founded his genus being the following:
NO. 105. KERIVOULA PICTAThe Painted Bat (Jerdon's No. 53)HABITAT.India generally, Burmah and Ceylon.
DESCRIPTION."Fur fine, woolly; above yellowish-red or golden rufous, beneath less brilliant and more yellow; wing membranes inky black, with rich orange stripes along the fingers extending in indentations into the membrane."Jerdon.
Ears moderate, laid forwards; the tips reach midway between the eyes and the middle of the muzzle; tragus very long and straight; thumb short; wings to the base of the toes.
SIZE.Head and body, 1½ inch; tail, 1·6 inch; expanse about 10 inches.
This beautiful little bat is found all over India, but is not common; it is occasionally caught in plantain gardens, as it resorts to the leaves of that tree for shelter during the night, and may sometimes be discovered in the folds of a leaf. As Jerdon remarks, it looks more like a butterfly or a moth when disturbed during the day time. Dr. Dobson pertinently observes that the colours of this bat appear to be the result of the "protective mimicry" which we see so often in insects, the Mantidea and other genera, the colours being adapted to their abiding places. He alludes to Mr. Swinhoe's account ('P. Z. S.,' 1862, p. 357) of an allied species:"The body of this bat was of an orange yellow, but the wings were painted with orange yellow and black. It was caught suspended head downwards on a cluster of the round fruit of the longan tree. (Nephelium [Scytalia] longanum) [the ash phul of Bengal]. Now this tree is an evergreen, and all the year through some portion of its foliage is undergoing decay, the particular leaves being in such a stage partially orange and black; this bat can therefore at all seasons suspend from its branches and elude its enemies by its resemblance to the leaf of the tree." This bat was named by Pallas Vespertilio pictus. Boddaert in 1785 termed it Vesp. kerivoula, and Gray afterwards took the second specific name for that of the genus, leaving the first as it is.
KERIVOULA PALLIDA(Jerdon's No. 54.)This is synonymous with Vespertilio formosus, which see further on, it is the same as the Kerivoula formosa of Gray.
NO. 106. KERIVOULA PAPILLOSA(Jerdon's No. 55.)HABITAT.Java, but said by Jerdon to have been found in Calcutta and Ceylon.
DESCRIPTION.Fur fine woolly, long, bicoloured; above light shining brown, paler below; the free edge of the interfemoral membrane margined with small papillæ.
NO. 107. KERIVOULA HARDWICKIIHABITAT.India (AssamShillong, Khasia hills).
DESCRIPTION.Same size as K. picta, but ears larger; fur uniformly dark above and below, with shining greyish-brown extremities.
GENUS VESPERTILIOMuzzle long; ears often larger than the head, oval, apart; tragus long, acute; crown of head vaulted; feet moderate; wing membrane from base of toes; tail, wholly included in interfemoral membrane, less than length of head and body.