Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington.

PROCEEDINGS

OFTHE

BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON

NOTES ON BAHAMA BATS.

BY GLOVER

M.

ALLEN,

This

isthe

second

of

a

seriesof short

papers based on mate

rialcollected

mainly during July

,1

904

,

among

^the

^Bahamas

^.

^The

writer, in

company ^{with Mr.} Thomas Barbour and Mr. Owen

Bryant, spent some _{ten days} on

the island of

New Providence, and about

three

weeks among

^the

^northern

^{islands of}

^the Bahama _group. Everywhere,

inquiries

were made

that

might

lead to the discovery ^of bat _colonies,

but although many

^caves

were

visited

which we were assured contained

_bats,

only a few

^of these

were found

to

be inhabited by them. The limestone rock

of the

Bahamas

^is quite suitable for

cave formation. At

several_places,

notably Hurricane Hole, Great Abaco, and Cedar Harbor,

^Little

Abaco,

^there

were

series of rather

open ^caverns

inbluffs

by ^the

^shore.

These caverns

varied in

height from two

orthree feet to

ten

feet or

mo

_re, often

with

curious cylindrical pits in their roofs. Others, again,

were hollows

inthe

ground

of

a more

well-like nature,

and sometimes

led off at

an _angle from

the

opening. But not every cave

^{is suitable as}

a

_resting- place ^{for bats.}

In our experience a prime

necessity^of

a bat cave

is that it shall

have

a

chamber

sufficiently far

from the

entrance, or ^so situated past

a

_{turn, as} to

exclude

all daylight.

Apparently

^{it isof less}

importance whether the entrance be

in

the

side of

a

hill or

burrow-like from a

level surface.

In

several

10-Pnoc.BIOL. Soc. WASH., VOL. XVII, ^1905. (65)

cases

we were informed

that certain caves

had been inhabited by

^{bats for}

^a

great

many

years, indicating that

they

appreciate

such

places as are suited ^to their needs.

On

the island of

New

Providence, however, we made _{a journey}

into the interiorto

examine some caves on

_{the large} estate of

Mr. _Gladstone,

Pri vate Secretary ^of the

Governor. This gentleman ^{assured us}

that in

March

these caves

were inhabited by numerous

_bats,

and

that

he had

visited

them

at that

time with

_{a party.}

But when we

_arrived,

some

four

months

later,

not a bat could we

find after careful search

among ^{the narrow} passages leading back

into

the

hill.

Apparently no

^bats

had been

in

the cave

for

some _time, and we wondered

if possibly^it

were inhabited

at certain seasons only,

by

species that

had _migrated

thither

from

elsewhere.

Six

_speciesofbats

were

collected

by ^the members

of

our party

^.

Although none

^{of these are}

new,

yet ^{it is} believed that the notes

on

their habits

and

distribution

here

offered

may prove

ofvalue.

The bat fauna

of the

Bahamas

is

made _up

of

elements some what

similar in character to those

composing

^the

^avifauna.

Thus, the brown bat

(Vespertilio fuscus

bahamensis)

^is

a

_repre sentative ofa

North American

_species of

wide

distribution

on the

continent.

The red bat

_(Lasiurus borealisseminolus) ^isalso

a

representative ^of

a wide-ranging North American

_species.

On

.the

other hand,

there are species

representing genera whose

dis tribution is

mainly

^the

West Indies and

the tropical

and sub

tropical portions of the

mainland. Such

are

the house bat (Nyc- tinomus

bahamensis),

the

_big-eared

bat

_(Otopterus waterhousii compressus),

and

the straw-colored

bat

₍Chilonatalus tumidifrons)^.

A fourth

_species

belonging

^{to this}

second

class ^is

Glossophaga

soricina antillarum,

a

skull of

which has been recorded by Mr.

J.

A. G. Rehn from the Bahamas. A

third class is

represented by

Phyllonycteris

plamfrons, which

_belongs' to a

genus appa

rently

confined

to the.

West

Indies.

I

wish

to

express my ^thanks

^to

^the

authorities of the

United

States

National Museum

for the

loan

of

specimens

^for

compari

son. All

the

bats collected

by our expedition have _{been pre} sented

to the

Museum

of

Comparative Zoology, Cambridge, Mass.

Following

^is

a

list of the six species

obtained by ^our

party,

with

notes ^:

Vespertilio fuscus

bahamensis

Miller.

Vespertiliofuscus bahamensis^Miller. North

Amer.

Fauna, No.13, p.101,figs.

246,256,266. ^Oct. 16,1897.

On June

29

we

discovered a smallcolonyof these batsinoneoftheunder ground chambersof oldFortCharlotte, atNassau,

New

Providence. This

is thetype-locality for the subspecies,

and we

did not meet with itelse where.

The

bats were clustered in a cone-shaped cavity ⁱⁿthe ceiling

where

the limestone rock of the

dungeon had become

broken away.

They

werenot atall inclined toleavetheir retreat,but

when

disturbed simply endeavored to crawl still farther back into the cleft.

By

placing a net over theopening^ofthiscavity

we

were abletodislodge a

number

intoit

withthe aid of a_pole.

Of

the 24specimens preserved,⁸areadultmales

and

4 are adult females, 4 are

young

^males

and

8are

young

^females.

Lasiurus borealis

seminolus

_(Rhoads).

Atalapha^{borealisseminola}Rhoads. Proc.Acad.Nat._Sci.,Phila., 1895, p. 32.

LasiurusborealisseminolusMiller. North

Amer.

_{Fauna, No.13, p.109, Oct.}

16,1897.

?Lasiurusborealis

pfeifferi(Gundlach)^Miller. North

Amer.

_{Fauna, No.13,}

p.110, Oct. 16, 1897, Part.

A

_singlefemale specimen^ofthe

Red

Bat

was

_captured

by

Mr. Bryantⁱⁿ thefirst

week

_{of August,}atNassau,

where

^it

had

flownintoadwelling-house.

The

_specimen

was

skinnedout fromalcohol after a

two

months'

immer

sion

and

bothskin

and

skullwere then_carefully

compared

^withspecimens of L.6.seminolus from Enterprise,^Fla.

The Bahama

specimen ^ispracti callyindistinguishable^{in color}

and

proportionsfromthe_small,

mahogany-

red Floridarace,

and

theskullsof the

two

also agree.

When

Mr.Miller wrotehis

Review

ofthe Vespertilionidae ofNorth America, he

had

buta single skullofthe

Red

Bat fromthe

Bahamas.

Thisskull (fromNassau) hereferred doubtfully^tothe

Cuban

subspecies, L. ^6.pfeifferi.

Our

_speci men, however, seemsreferable tothe Florida form.

Nyctinomus ^bahamensis

^Rehn.

NyctinomusbaJiamensisRehn. Proc.Acad.Nat. _Sci.,Phila., 1902,p.641.

This bat was recently described

by

^{Mr.J. A.G.}

Rehn

on the basis of specimens from ^{the islandsof}Eleuthera

and

LittleAbaco.

We

found a largecolony^atthe latterisland

and

a second at

Marsh

Harbor, on Great Abaco. In boththesecasesthe bats

had

establishedthemselvesinbuild ingsusedas stores

and

roofedwith flutedsheets of galvanized^iron.

The

fluting offered small holes for entrance to the space ^left between thesheathing

and

the exterior of the building,

and

here thelittlecreatures

wereclusteredinmostcasesquite

beyond

^ourreach.

One

or

two

^individ

uals,however,^Icapturedⁱⁿ

my ^hands

^{betweentherafters}

^and

^theroofing.

Bothcolonieswerevisitedduring^thedaytime

and seemed much

awake,^as aconstantsharpchippering

came

from their_quarter. Their

musty

odor, characteristicof thisfamily ofbats, as well as their continual ill-natured bickering drive the store-keepers ^to

smoke them

out at intervals.

As many

^{as 500were said to}

^have

^been

^smoked

^out

^and

^beaten

down

_just

previous ^to our visit to the Great

Abaco

_colony. Notwithstanding ^this destruction,there

seemed

tobestilla considerableremnant.

One

female specimen taken July^7,at

Marsh

Harbor, contained alarge foetus nearly ready ^{for birth.}

The

bat colony ^{at Little}

Abaco

inhabited the space between thesheathing

and

the roofing ^atthe store of Mr.Roberts.

On

theevening^ofJuly10,shortlyafter sunset,^I stationedmyselfoutside the building^toobservetheanimalsasthey

came

forth for theirnightlyforay.

The

_squeaking

and

scrambling underneath^{the roof}

had now become much

louder thanbefore.

As

_nightfall approached, ^the

commotion

_grew

more

intense,

and

_presentlyoneor

two

bats

swooped

^outfrom beneaththe roof ing

and

flew_swiftly

away

^{into the dusk.} Singly, or

two and

three ata time,fromallsidesof the buildingthey

now came

forth

and

dispersed in different directions. Shortlyafter,a_slight

shower came on and

with ita breeze,but although^Iwatched until it

was

_quitedark, a large

number

of the bats were evidently staying in their shelter, as evidenced

by

^their squeaks

and

scratching. Mr. Roberts told

me

that he

had

sometimes observed

them

streaming back ^{totheirroost ata little} before sunrise in the morning,

and

_further,that

on windy

or rainy nightsbut few

seemed

to leave theshelterofthe building.

Intheseriesof 6 skins preserved there^isa_slightvariationincolorthat appears ^to be correlatedwith_{sex, for} the females are a uniform Prouts' brown, while^themalesare nearly a Broccolibrown.

Chilonatalus tumidifrons Miller.

Chilonaiulustumidifrons'M.iller. Proc. Biol._Soc.,Washington,vol. 16, p.119, Sept. 30, 1903.

Mr.Millerhas_recently

made known

thisdelicately-formedspeciesfrom fourspecimens^collected July^12,1903, atWatling's Island

by

^the

Bahama

Expedition^{of the} GeographicalSociety of Baltimore. ^Itiswith pleasure, therefore,that

we

are abletoreport^itfrom a second_locality,Great Abaco, thusextending^the

known

_range

some

200 miles northwest,^tothenorth ern islands of the group.

Our

_colonyinhabited acaveat Israel's Point,

on

the northeastern shore of the island.

The

entrance to this cave

was

through ^anarrowsloping passage, leading

down

with a _slight turn to a smallunderground

chamber some

_eightfeethigh,

and

quite dark. Here,

on

_July7,Iestimated that about 300 bats were hanging from^therough limestone of thesides

and

roof of the cave.

As my

guide

and

Ientered with our_lantern,those nearestat

hand

_began to flitback

and

forthkeep-

ing

up

^afaint twittering,

and

_{finallyalighted again} in the

more

distant partsof the cavern.

A

fewretreatedthrougha smallcrevice

which

doubt

lessled intoasecondchamber. Inoticed repeatedly that^asthebatsalighted they ^{at first} clung ^to the rock withbotli hind_feet, butafterobtaining a secure hold,they^letgo onefoot,

and hung

suspended

by

^{oneslenderlimb} only.

Of

the 56specimenscaptured,^all were_{males, a}fact

which

indicates that, aswith

many

speciesof_bats, thesexes segregate

when

not_breeding,

and

thatthiswas a male_colony. Afterthe bats

had

quieted

down,

^I

made

as careful

an

examination as possible,

and

was unable to discover

any

other _species in the cave save for two male specimens^ofPhyllonycteris planifrons.

Some

two weekslaterwhile returningfrom ourcruise

among

the northern_cays,

we

_againstoppedin at Israel'sPoint

and

I

made

asec

ond

visit to the cave.

To my

surprise not oneof thelittle Chilonatalus couldbefound, but instead a colony ^of from oneto

two hundred

_Phyllo-

nycterisplanifrons

was

in undisputed possession.

The meaning

^{ofthis I}

was

unableto learn. According ^to

my

guide ^{this cave}

had

beendiscov ered

some

_{twentyyears or}

more

_ago

when

theground

had

beeninuseas a_pineappleplantation. ^It

had

always been^used

by

the bats sofaras

he knew and was

visitedperiodically

by

the plantersⁱⁿordertoprocure the

guano

^{aswellasthecaveearth thatwashesin.}

Our

_specimensagree precisely withthe_originaldescription^asgiven

by

Mr. Miller.

Two

types of coloration were noticeable,however, dueper hapsto age, fora

number

ofthe specimens,thoughadult,

had

not acquired the bright yellowish^tintbut were_nearlydrababovewith thehairs lighter attheir bases.

Otopterus

waterhousii

compressus

(Eehn).

Macrotm

waterhousiicompressusRehn. Proc.Acad. Nat. _Sci.,Phila., 1904, p.434.

The Bahama

_Otopterushas been recorded from Andros,

Long

Island,

New

Providence,

and

Eleuthera. Ithas not yetbeentaken, apparently,

among

^{thenorthernislandsof}the group.

We

found but a _singlecolony.

This

was

atNassau,

New

Providence,

and

musthave

numbered

someseventy- fiveor

more

individuals.

They

occupied a portion of theceiling inoneof the underground dungeons ^{cut in} the limestone rock at Fort Charlotte.

All the adults captured were _females,

and

with these were a

number

of nearly ^full

grown young

^{of both sexes. In} striking contrast to the sleepy

brown

bats in another

chamber

of the _fort,these batswerealert

and

active.

By

^thelightofabroken

lamp we

could

make

outthecolony hanging from ^the ceiling,

some

of

them

at least,holding

on by

^{one foot} only. After once being ^startled they

became

_{very wild}

and

dispersed throughout the chambers ofthe dungeon, flying from

room

to room,^or back

and

forth between two

chambers

as

we

continuedourexploration.

Gosse, ⁱⁿ writing of the Jamaican _Otopterus, calls attention to its sub-

terranean propensities,

and

says that

when

_living in houses, these bats invariably take

up

^their

abode

in thecellar.

We

wereinterested toob servethat

none

of these batsatthefortappeared ^to flyout intothe_light of day,butanumber, onthe contrary, retreated^still farther underground after

we had

disturbed them. For

when we had

finished our

examina

tion our guide lowered^his bucket into a wellcut103feetdeepⁱⁿoneof the underground chambers,

and

in so doing ^disturbed a

number

ofthe bats

which had

taken_refugeat

some

_depth inthe shaft of thewell.

They emerged

singly from the narrow

mouth

of the shaft asthebucket_pro gressed

downward.

Several of these bats

which we had

takenalive were carriedtoourhotel. At_frequentintervalsthey^utteredashortsharptrill,

very^similartothesound produced

by

rapidlyrunning

up

^a squeaky^cur tain-roller.

The _young

^batswere

much

darkerthanthe_adults,almostaclove-brown on theback,

and

their faceswere almost withouthair.

Specimens. ⁷adult females

and

¹

young

^male(skins); 2adult females, G

young

males,

and

2

young

^females (alcoholic).

Phyllonycteris planifrons ^Miller.

Phylloni/cterisplanifrons ^{Miller. Proc. Biol.} Soc., Washington,^vol. 13, p.

34,

May

^{29, 1899.}

Thisisa

common

_{species in} the

Bahamas.

^It

was

described fiveyears ago

by

^Mr.Miller

on

the strength of 124specimens^allfromthe

same

lime stonecaveafewmilesfrom _Nassau,

New

Providence. Inadditiontothe colony at Israel's Point, Great Abaco. mentionedinconnection with the colony of Chilonntalu*

we

also visited a

much

_larger one at Hurricane Hole,onthe northeasterncoast of Great Abaco.

Here

isaseriesof_large

open

^cavesinalimestone bluff

some

50 feet high^ormore.

A

_{small pas}

sage leadsfromthefarendofoneof thesecaves,

and by means

^ofthisac

cessisgained^toahigh ^vaultedchamber.

A

second

and

smaller

chamber

leadsofffrom thefirstafter turning a right angle.

No

_{ray oflightpene}

trates these inner caverns.

Everywhere

^our lantern disclosed hundreds of thePhyllonycterisclinging singly orin clusters tothe walls

and

_ceiling of the cave,

and

they were apparently^theonlyspeciesinhabiting^{it. I} captured

and examined

a

number

ofthebats. There wereadultsofboth sexes in thecave,

and many

of the females

had

each a_single

young

^one

stillsuckling,though aboutlosing the^lastof themilkteeth. These

young

bats were very dark ^clove

brown

above

becoming

lightdrabbelow.

A number

ofspecimens were taken

which showed

varioustransitional stages of pelagefromthat of the

young

^toa

more

mature_stage having ^{a curious} patchy mixture^{of clove}

brown and

vinaceous

cinnamon

above

and

drab beneath.

The

colony ^at

Marsh

Harbor, ^visitedJuly 20, also consisted of both sexes,butof the 18specimenstaken, only²were females. All the bats in thiscolony

seemed

tobeadults.

Aswith

some

otherspeciesmentioned,

many

^{ofthese bats}

when

at rest clung by one foot only.

They

^areofa quarrelsomedisposition

and

bite vigorously

when

handled. Their_bickeringswereaudibleeven before

we

reached the

mouth

oftheircave

and

^itisevident thatthe colony,though resting, ^is

much awake

even in the daylight hours.

A number

of

them

were foundtohave oneorboth ears truncated near the _{tip in so}regular a fashion as to

make

it

seem

thattherewere two_{types of}ear-outline

among

them.

The

occurrence of

some

individuals with only one clippedear, however, might indicate that this shape ^is duetoaccidental lossofthe point of thatorgan through^itshaving been ^{bitten off}

by

^oneofthequar relsome

company.

Specimens. 12 adult

and

2

young

^males(skins)^;3adultfemales_(skins);4 adultfemales

and

7males (alcoholic), 2

young

^females

and

2

young

^males

(alcoholic).