Part 16 (1/2)

NYCTICEJUS Ca.n.u.s.

_The h.o.a.ry Bat_ (_Jerdon's No. 47_).

(See _ante: Vesperugo lobatus_.)

NYCTICEJUS ORNATUS.

_The Harlequin Bat_ (_Jerdon's No. 48_).

(See _ante: Scotophilus ornatus_.)

NO. 98. NYCTICEJUS NIVICOLUS.

_The Alpine Bat_ (_Jerdon's No. 49_).

HABITAT.--Sikim.

DESCRIPTION.--”Head and body above uniform light brown with a slight yellowish shade; underneath, from the throat to the vent, dark grey with a brownish tint, lighter on the sides of the throat. Ears long, attenuated to an obtuse point.”--_Jerdon_.

SIZE.--Head and body, 3 inches; tail, 2 inches; expanse, 19 inches.

This bat was described by Hodgson ('Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist.' 1855), but there is some doubt about it, and it has been cla.s.sed as a _Lasiurus_ and also with _Scot. ornatus_ and _Vesp. formosa_, but Jerdon thinks it a _distinct_ species. I cannot find any mention of it in Dobson's monograph.

_GENUS HARPIOCEPHALUS_.

This is also the genus _Murina_ of Gray. Dr. Dobson explains his acceptance of the former term in the following way: that he first accepted _Murina_ on the score of priority in a paper showing that _Harpiocephalus_ and _Murina_ must be united in a single genus; but finding afterwards that Gray had founded _Murina_ on a specimen of what he believed to be _Vesp. suillus_ (Temm.), but which was in reality a specimen of a very different species from Darjeeling, belonging to the same section of the genus as _Vespertilio harpia_ (Temm.) the type of his genus _Harpiocephalus_, it remained therefore either to discard both names or to retain _Harpiocephalus_, in which course he was supported by Professor Peters, to whom he mentioned the facts.

Horsfield's genus _Lasiurus_ is included in this one, though Jerdon considers it distinct from _Murina_.

Muzzle elongated, conical; _nostrils prominent, tubular; produced beyond the upper lip_, opening laterally or sublaterally, emarginate between; crown of the head scarcely raised above the face line; ears thin, generally covered with glandular papillae; tragus long, attenuated towards the tip, and inclined outwards; thumb very large, with a large, strongly curved claw; wings around interfemoral membrane very hairy.--_Dobson_.

Dent.i.tion: Inc., 2--2/6; can. 1--1/1--1; premolars, 2--2/2--2; molars, 3--3/3--3.

NO. 99. HARPIOCEPHALUS HARPIA.

_Lasiurus Pearsonii_ (_Horsfield_) (_Jerdon's No. 50_).

HABITAT.--Darjeeling and Khasia hills.

DESCRIPTION.--”Fur above very soft, silky, and rather long; colour on the head, neck, and shoulders brownish grey, with a ferruginous cast, variegated with whitish hairs; the rest of the body above, with the base of the membrane, the thighs and the interfemoral membrane, have a deep bay or reddish-brown hue, and delicate hairs of the same colour are scattered over the membrane and project from its border; the body underneath is thickly covered with a grey fur, which is paler on the breast and body; the interfemoral membrane marked with regularly parallel transverse lines” (_Horsfield_). Ears ovoid; tragus rather long, nearly straight, acute at the tip (_Jerdon_).

Muzzle rather short, obtusely conical; end of nose projecting considerably beyond the lip, consisting of diverging tubular nostrils opening laterally, with a slight emargination between each (_Dobson_).

SIZE.--Head and body, 3 inches; tail, 1-1/2 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 h.o.a.ry.”

[Figure: Skull of _Harpiocephalus harpia_.]

This bat is, for its size, one of the most powerfully armed with teeth.