HEAD OF BARBASTELLE.
The Barbastelle is by no means a common Bat in England, where it seems to be confined to the Southern and Midland Counties, extending as far north as Northamptonshire and Warwickshire. It is found in France, rarely in Belgium and Germany, in Italy, Scandinavia, and Russia. In the southern part of the last-mentioned country it appears to be more abundant than elsewhere, especially in the Crimea, on the south coast of which it is said by M. Demidoff to be very common. It is said by Mr. Bell to occur in Nepaul, but the specimens referred to by him probably belong to the Darjeling Bat (Synotus darjelinensis) of Mr. Hodgson.
This curious little Bat measures about two inches in length of body, and its tail is about a quarter of an inch shorter. The expanse of its wings is ten inches. The cheeks are covered with black hair, which forms a sort of moustache. The ears are irregular in form, their tips being slightly truncated, and their outer margins sweeping in so as to form a notch, from which five or six folds run about half-way across the ear. The eyes are almost concealed by the black hairs on the cheeks. The fur is long and soft, and of a brownish-black colour, with whitish tips, which are longer on the hairs of the lower surface. The membranes are dusky black.
In its habits the Barbastelle seems to be rather solitary; both in its places of repose and in its evening flights it is generally seen alone. It sometimes takes up its abode in caverns, but almost any place of retreat will suit it. Thus it may be found in the crevices of walls or trees, in the roofs of sheds, behind shutters, and in fact in almost any situation that offers it a chance of concealment. Its flight is peculiar, being a lazy, desultory sort of flutter, performed as if with no particular object; and according to Mr. Bell it is in the habit of approaching evening promenaders “so closely that the flutter of its wings may be heard, and even the cool air thrown by their movement felt upon the cheek.” In captivity the Barbastelle is rather timid, and does not become familiar with its keeper after the fashion of its near relation, the Long-eared Bat; and when confined with other Bats it shows a certain sullenness of disposition, and an inclination to keep apart from its companions. A specimen received in winter by Mr. Bell from a chalk cavern at Chislehurst was very restless when awake, and was constantly biting at the wires of his box, as if endeavouring to escape. “When suffered to fly about the room, he flew very low, and less actively than any other under similar circumstances; and he was fond of lying before the fire on the hearthrug, where he appeared quite to luxuriate in the warmth.”
EAR AND HEAD OF TOWNSEND’S BAT. (After Allen.)
In the second edition of “Bell’s British Quadrupeds,” a beautiful variety of this Bat from Alcester, in Warwickshire, is mentioned, having “the fur of the under parts, from root to tip, strongly tinged with purplish-red, or rose-colour.” The authors also state that they have seen a perfectly white specimen of the species, and one in which the head and neck were of the ordinary dark colour, whilst the rest of the body was pure white. In both these specimens, which were young, the membranes were nearly white.
THE BIG-EARED BAT.[184]
Two North American Bats, allied to the Long-eared Bat and the Barbastelle, have been formed into a distinct genus by Dr. Allen. They have the ears very large, with the outer border carried forward beneath the tragus, which is nearly half as long as the ear, tapering upwards, and furnished near the base on the outer side with a small circular lobe standing almost at right angles to the tragus. The sides of the nose bear large excrescences, which join with the inner margins of the ears. There are three pre-molars in the lower jaw, instead of two, as in Plecotus and Synotus.