. The American natural history : a foundation of useful knowledge of the higher animals of North America . Natural history. CALIFORNIA LEAF-NOSED BAT. (After Harrison Allen.) brane reaches down to the foot; the tail is long, and sometimes extends a short distance beyond the interfemoral membrane. On the whole, the bats of this Family form an astonishing exhibit of facial oddities. All save a few species are confined to South America. The California Leaf-Nosed Bat1 may be taken as a very modest example, because it bears what is really a very simple form of nose-leaf. It is found in southern Cal
. The American natural history : a foundation of useful knowledge of the higher animals of North America . Natural history. CALIFORNIA LEAF-NOSED BAT. (After Harrison Allen.) brane reaches down to the foot; the tail is long, and sometimes extends a short distance beyond the interfemoral membrane. On the whole, the bats of this Family form an astonishing exhibit of facial oddities. All save a few species are confined to South America. The California Leaf-Nosed Bat1 may be taken as a very modest example, because it bears what is really a very simple form of nose-leaf. It is found in southern California and Mexico, and its pelage is very light-colored. The most remarkable of all bat faces is that of a small, brown-colored West Indian species known as Blainville's As a sport of Nat- ure it stands fairly unrivalled, and shows what is possible in the fashioning of skin into orna- mental forms. The ears are large and of most fantastic form, the chin is bedecked with a high- ly convoluted bib of skin, and the eyes and nos- trils are almost lost amid the leaves and tuber- cles which cover the muzzle. As a whole, the appearance of the face of this bat suggests a high- ly complicated flower, like a double pansy. The skull is only five-eighths of an inch in length. 1 O-lop'ter-us cal-i-for'ni-cus. 2 Mor'moops blain'vill-ii. This species is quite uncommon, and practically nothing is known of its habits. In fashioning the noses and ears of bats, Nat- ure has done some very odd and curious work. The flowers of orchids are not more oddly fash- ioned than the heads and faces of some species. Let it not be supposed, however, that these queer facial appendages and long ears of the leaf-nosed bats are purely ornamental. Dr. George E. Dobson, one of the greatest authori- ties on bats, has pointed out two very curious facts. (I) The bats with small ears and no nose- leaves fly most in the early twilight; and many, such as the fruit-bats, fly in the daytime. (2) The long-eared and l
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