. Natural history. Zoology. THE BA rs. 37. for a short distance above the forehead, and the presence of grooves, re- presenting an incipient nose-leaf on the muzzle just behind the nostrils. When at rest, the long ears are folded back, leaving the tragus alone standing upright. In the allied genus (Synotus), of which the barbastelle is the British repre- sentative, there are also only two species, one of which is European and the other Asiatic. They may be easily distinguished from the long-eared bats by the shortness of the ears, which are united for some distance ^'^ basally, and likewise by
. Natural history. Zoology. THE BA rs. 37. for a short distance above the forehead, and the presence of grooves, re- presenting an incipient nose-leaf on the muzzle just behind the nostrils. When at rest, the long ears are folded back, leaving the tragus alone standing upright. In the allied genus (Synotus), of which the barbastelle is the British repre- sentative, there are also only two species, one of which is European and the other Asiatic. They may be easily distinguished from the long-eared bats by the shortness of the ears, which are united for some distance ^'^ basally, and likewise by the reduction in the ^'- l°pi7co°uTauHt^^)' ^^"^ number of the teeth from 36 to 34. The pipistrelle, or common bat (Vesperngo pipistrellvs), together with the much larger noctule (F. noctula) and serotine (F. serotiints), are British repre- sentatives of a third genus, differing in several particulars from the two pre- ceding. There are, for instance, no traces of grooves or foldings in the skin oi the nose, and the small ears are completely separate from each other. The genus, which apparently contains a greater number of species than any other in the order, has an almost cosmopolitan distribution, but is one somewhat difficult to define, as some of its representatives approximate more or less to other genera ; the number of teeth being either 30, 34, or 36. The more typical kinds may be recognised by the relatively stout body, the broad, flat- tened head and blunt muzzle, and the broad, short, and triangular ears, in which the tragus is generally thickened and somewhat inclined outwards. As a rule, the hind-legs are short, and the membrane connecting them with the tail nearly always has an additional portion on the outer side of the spur on the heel. Omitting notice of the genera Nycticejus and Chalinolubus, mention must bo made of the American genus Atalapha, of which the hoary bat (A. cinerea) of the United States is a familiar representative. All members of this ge
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