‘And matted woods, where birds forget to sing,
But silent bats in drowsy clusters cling.’
Some of the phyllostomidæ have a tongue once as long again as the head, and armed at the extremity with recurved bristles, like that of the woodpecker, no doubt a very serviceable instrument for extracting insects from the narrow hollows and crevices of trees and rocks.
RHINOLOPHUS.
The Rhinolophi, or Horse-shoe Bats, of the old continent, have also a more or less complicated nasal appendage, or foliaceous membrane at the end of the nose but differing in its conformation from that of the phyllostomidæ. They are insectivorous, like most of their order, and none of them seem to indulge in the blood-sucking propensities of the large American vampires. They chiefly inhabit the tropical regions of Africa and Asia, and more particularly the Indian Archipelago, but the Rhinolophus unihastatus ranges in Europe as far as England.
Numerous genera and species of tropical bats, distinguished from each other by the formation of their teeth, lips, nostrils, heads, wings, and tails, have already been classified by naturalists, but many, no doubt, still live unknown in their gloomy retreats, for who is able to follow them into the obscure nooks of the forest, or into intricate caverns, and accurately to observe them during their nocturnal rambles? It may give an idea of their vast numbers throughout the torrid zone, when we hear that in Ceylon alone about sixteen species have been identified, and of these, two varieties are peculiar to the island. Unlike the sombre bats of the northern climates, the colours of some of them are as brilliant as the plumage of a bird, bright yellow, deep orange, or of a rich ferruginous brown, thus contradicting the general belief which attires nocturnal animals in vestures as dark as their pursuits.
The torrid zone, which produces the largest bats, also gives birth to the tiniest representatives of the order, such as the minute Singhalese variety of Scotophilus Coromandelicus, which is not much larger than the humble bee, and of a glossy black colour. ‘It is so familiar and gentle,’ says Sir J. E. Tennent, ‘that it will alight on the cloth during dinner, and manifests so little alarm that it seldom makes any effort to escape before a wine-glass can be inverted to secure it.’
Though incapable of a prolonged flight like the bats, several other tropical quadrupeds have been provided with extensions of the skin, which give them the power of supporting themselves for some time in the air, and of making prodigious leaps. Thus, by means of an expansile furry membrane, reaching from the fore-feet to the hind, the Flying Squirrels (Pteromys) bound, or rather swiftly sail, to the distance of twenty fathoms or more, and thus pass from one tree to another, always directing their flight obliquely downwards. They very rarely descend to the ground, and when taken or placed on it, run or spring somewhat awkwardly with their tail elevated, beginning to climb with great activity as soon as they reach a tree.
The Galeopitheci, of the Indian Archipelago, and the Anomaluri of the west coast of Africa, are in like manner enabled to take long sweeping leaps from tree to tree, and no doubt the investigations of travellers will bring to light other animals endowed with similar powers, for when we consider how large a portion of the tropical zone has never yet been scientifically investigated, we have every reason to believe that many still remain unknown.