Photo by C. Reid} [ Wishate, N.B.

WILD RABBITS.

The wild, rabbit has now spread to the north of Scotland, where this picture was taken. It is also common in the Hebrides.

young greyhounds on some marshes intersected by wide ditches of water. It first ran to the side of one of these ditches, and doubled at right angles on the brink. This caused the outer dog to lose its balance and to fall heavily into the deep and cold water. The hare then made straight for the line of walkers, and passed through them, with the other greyhound close behind it. The dog reached out and seized the hare by the fur of the back, throwing it down. The hare escaped, leaving a large patch of fur in the dog's jaws, doubled twice, and was again seized by the second dog, which had come up. It escaped from the jaws of the second pursuer, leapt two ditches 12 feet wide, and then sat for a moment behind a gate on a small bridge. This use of the only cover near caused the dogs to lose sight of it; they refused to jump the second drain, and the hare escaped.

The BABBIT is too well known to need description either of its habits or appearance. It originally came from the countries south of the Mediterranean, but is now common in Northern Europe, and has become a pest in Australia and New Zealand. The rabbit breeds when, six months old, and has several litters in each year.

CHAPTER X.

THE BATS AND INSECT-EATING MAMMALS.

BY AV. P. PYCKAFT, A.L.S., F.Z.S.

rTlHESE two groups are really closely allied; but the bats are generally considered apart, on 1 account of their totally different mode of life. Originally, like their more commonplace relatives, they were dwellers upon the earth, or, more correctly, among the trees. By gradual modification of the fore limbs, and a corresponding development of folds of skin attached thereto, and to the body, they have acquired the power of flight. The cobego, to be mentioned presently, gives us a hint of how this may have come about.

The bats are the only members of the Mammalia which possess the power of true flight. The so-called flying-squirrels do not rightly deserve this title, for they have no wings. The wings of the bat have been formed by modification of the fore limbs, the finger-bones having become excessively lengthened, so as to serve as a support to a thin web of skin extending outwards from the body, much as the ribs of an umbrella support the covering. The hand of the bat is therefore a quite unique organ.

Photo by W. Samite-Kent, F.Z.S.] [Croydon.

AUSTRALIAN FRUIT-BAT, OR " FLYING-FOX."

This photograph shows the " flying-fox" in its customary resting position. A photograph of it flying is shown on page v of Introduction. 1G3

er: The wing-membrane serves yet

| ; another purpose, for its sense of touch

is exceedingly delicate, enabling even blind bats (for bats are not blind usually, as is popularly supposed) to avoid objects placed in their path. Some bats, however, appear to depend also in some slight degree upon hearing. The sense of touch is still further increased by the development of frills or leaf-like expansions of skin round the nose and mouth, and by the excessive development of the external ears. ‘ Delicate hairs fringing these membranes probably act like the “whiskers” of the cat. Insect-eating bats inhabiting regions with a temperate climate must in winter, when food-supplies cease, either hibernate or migrate to warmer regions. The majority hibernate; but two species at least of Canadian bats perform extensive migrations, it is supposed to escape the intense cold. The power of flight has made the bats independent of the barriers which restrict the movements of terrestrial animals, and accordingly we find them all over the world, even as far north as the Arctic ~ Circle. AUSTRALIAN FRUIT-BATS. But certain groups of bats have an In their roosting-places these bats bang all over the trees in enormous numbers, extremely restricted range. Thus the looking like great black fruits, Although shot in thousands, on account of, the ba +: damage they do to fruit orchards, their numbers do not appear to be reduced. Fruit-bats occur only in the warmer: ‘ regions of the Old World, the Vampires in America, whilst some of the more common insect-eating forms are found everywhere. Those -forms with a restricted distribution are, it should be noticed, all highly specialised—that is to say, they have all become in some way adapted to peculiar local conditions, and cannot subsist apart therefrom. It is the more lowly—less specialised—forms which have the widest geographical range. There are some spots, however, on the world’s surface from which no bat has yet been recorded—such are Iceland, St. Helena, Kerguelen, and the Galapagos Islands. Photo by Henry King) THE FRuit-Bats. These represent the giants of the bat world, the largest of them, the Katona, or MaLay Fox-sat, measuring no less than 5 feet from tip to tip of the wing. The best known of the fruit-bats is the Inpian Fox-pat. Sir ERC fee et cen J. E. Tennent tells us that a favourite eae eae ee The tubular néstrils distinguish this and a species of insect-eating bat from all other resort of theirs near Kandy, in living mammals,

The Bats and Insect-eating Mammals 107 Photo by Fratelli Alinari} [ Florence,

PIPISTRELLE BAT.

This is one of the commonest of the British bats, It is the first to appear in the spring, and the last to retire at the fall of the year. Ceylon, was some indiarubber-trees, “where they used to assemble in such prodigious numbers that large boughs would not infrequently give way beneath the accumulated weight of the flock.” An observer in Calcutta relates that they occasionally travel in vast hordes, so great as to darken the sky. Whether they are performing some preconcerted migration or bent only on a foray to some distant feeding-ground is a matter for speculation. These hordes are quite distinct from the “long strings” which may be seen every evening in Calcutta on their way to neighbouring fruit-trees. One of the most remarkable of this group is the Tusk-NosEp Fruit-Bat, in which the nostrils are prolonged into a pair of relatively long tubes. Strangely enough, a group of insect-eating bats has developed similar though smaller tubes. Except in these bats, such tubes are unknown among mammals. Their function is not known. INSECT-EATING Bats. The vast majority of the bats comprising this group feed exclusively on insects. Some, however, have acquired the habit of fruit-eating, like the true fruit-bats; -and a few have developed quite ogre- ‘like habits, for they drink blood-indeed, they subsist upon nothing else. This they obtain from animals larger than themselves. Many of the bats of this group have developed curious leaf-like expansions of skin around the nose and mouth, which are supposed to be endowed with a very delicate sense of touch. In some, as in the FLOWER-NoSED Bat, the nose-leaf is excessively developed, forming a large rosette. The upper border of this rosette is furnished with three stalked balls, the function of which it is surmised is probably orna- [7: mental—from the bat’s point of view. Photo by A. S. Rudland & Sons. To our more esthetic taste the whole LEAF-NOSED BAT. i i The leaf-nosed are the most highly organised of all the bats. The remarkable eos eoous, Jeaf-like folds of skin around the nose or chin, as the case may be, serve as delicate Limited as is our space, WE organs of perception. There are numerous species of leat-nosed bats.

of the Worldi68 The Living Animals

cannot pass over the SUCKER-FOOTED BATS. These are met with, strangely enough, in countries so far apart as Brazil and Madagascar. The suckers from which they derive their name, in the Brazilian species, are small circular, hollow disks, attached to the thumb and the sole of the foot, recalling the suckers of the cuttle-fish and brown water-beetle. By their means he animal is enabled to climb over smooth vertical surfaces. cannot therefore afford to pass without A white bat is a rarity in the bat world. We mention the fact that Central and South America possess two species of WHITE BATS. This colour is probably developed for protection's sake, the bats being found nestling between the silvery leaves of a cocoanut-palm. Brilliant coloration, on the other hand, is by no means so rare. WELWITSCH'S BAT, for instance a West African species is remarkable for its gorgeous coloration, the colours being orange and black. An Indian species, known as the PAINTED BAT, is said to be so brilliantly coloured as to resemble a gorgeous butterfly rather than a bat. Ugliness is more common than beauty amongst the bats, and perhaps the ugliest of all the tribe is the NAKED BAT of the Malayan region. It is absolutely repulsive. The skin is naked, save for a collar of hair round the neck; whilst on the throat it gives rise to an enormous throat-pouch, which discharges an oily fluid of a peculiarly nauseating smell. On either side of the body is a deep pouch, in which the young are carried a very necessary provision, for they would be quite unable to cling to the body of the parent, as do the young of fur-bearing bats, on account of the naked skin.

Photo by W. Saville-Kent, F.Z.S. [Croydon.]

COBEGO.

Back view of the cobego, with the limbs extended, showing the great size of the flying-membranes, or parachute.

Of the great group of the VAMPIRE-BATS we can only make mention of the blood-sucking species. These are natives of South America. It is to Dr. Darwin that we owe our first absolutely reliable information about these little animals. Before the account in his Journal, it was uncertain to which of the vampires belonged the unenviable distinction of being the blood-sucker. During the stay of the great naturalist in Chili one was actually caught by one of his servants, as evening was drawing on, biting the withers of a horse. In the morning the spot where the bite had been inflicted was plainly visible, from its swollen condition. These two species, it has been stated, ... some "are the only bats which subsist entirely on a diet of blood, yet it is possible that of the JAVELIN-BATS or their allies may on occasion vary their ordinary food with it."

The Bats and Insect^eating Mammals 169

THE IXSECTIVORA, OR FLIGHTLESS INSECT-EATERS.

Some members of this group have departed from the traditional insect diet. Thus the cobego feeds upon leaves, a curious aquatic shrew the Potamogale of West Africa upon fish, and the moles upon worms. The group has a very wide geographical distribution, but there are nevertheless large portions of the globe in which they are conspicuous by their absence. They are never found in Australia or South America. Madagascar, Africa, and the West India Islands produce the most remarkable forms.

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