Page:The mammals of Australia Gould vol 3.djvu/165

 Western Nyctophilus.

Vespertilio Timoriensis, Geoff. Ann. du Mus., tom. viii. p. 200. tab. 47, 1806.—Desm. Mamm., p. 146, 1820.—Fisch. Synop. Mamm., p. 118, 1829.—Temm. Mon., tom. ii. p. 253, 1835-41.—Wagn. Supp. Schreib. Saugth., tom. i. p. 520, 1840.—Schinz, Synop. Mamm., tom. i. p. 175, 1844.

—— ——?, Temm. Mus. Leyd.

Plecotus Timoriensis, Less. Man. de Mamm., p. 97, 1827.—Is. Geoff. in Guerin, Mag. de Zool. 1832.—Less. Nouv. Tab. Rbgn. Anim., p. 23, 1842.

Nyctophilus Timoriensis, Tomes in Proc. of Zool. Soc., part xxvi. p. 30.

Bam-ba, Aborigines of Perth in Western Australia.

is believed by Mr. Tomes that this species of Bat, although hearing the name of Timoriensis, is never found in Timor, but that its true habitat is Western Australia; certain it is that it was there found by Mr. Gilbert, who states that it is very abundant in the neighbourhood of Perth, that it often flies into the houses, doubtless attracted by the light, and that its flight is extremely rapid.

"Although the original specimen of this species," says Mr. Tomes, "is reported to have been received from Timor, I am inclined to believe that there may have been some mistake respecting its locality. Among a great number of Bats from that island, contained in our museums and in that of Leyden, representatives of this genus do not appear; but specimens absolutely identical with the original in the Paris Collection have been obtained by Mr. Gould from Western Australia, and I have noted one in the Leyden Museum also from Australia, but without any precise indication of locality.

"The forms of this species are so similar to those of N. Geoffroyi, that it is needless to enter at greater length into details of description than is necessary to point out the differences between the two.

"In all the specimens I have been able to examine, viz. the original one in the Paris Museum, and three others collected in Australia by Mr. Gould, the ears are strongly sulcated, even more so than is observable in the Plecotus auritus, whilst in the N. Geoffroyi they are very faintly if at all marked; and instead of the small tufts of bristle-like hairs about the eyes, the present species has a tolerably regular series of similar ones fringing the eyelids.

"But the great difference in the size of the two animals is alone sufficient to distinguish them, the one being only nine inches in expanse, whilst the other attains fully thirteen inches; nearly as great a difference as exists between the Pipistrelle and the Noctule Bats.

"The fur of the upper parts is bicoloured, nearly black at tbe base, with the terminal half dark sepiabrown; that on the top of the head and on the membrane uniting the ears, unicoloured and paler; beneath, the fur has the basal half nearly black, the remainder being light brown, palest on the throat, on the middle of the belly, and on the pubes; on the shoulder of one example from Perth, Western Australia, is a patch of brownish rust-colour, but it does not occur in the other examples.

"This animal has been repeatedly described as a Vespertilio—V. Timoriensis; but it is strictly a Nyctophilus, as I have ascertained by the examination of the original specimen in the Paris Museum."

The figure is of the size of life.