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Show 1905.] OF THE GENUS RHINOLOPHUS. 109 greyish " drab," lighter on the head and neck ; base of hairs " ecru-drab" ; a strongly marked, dark brown horse-slioe patch; under side almost " ecru-drab " on throat and breast, very light " drab " on belly. (2) One (female, December); teeth almost unworn; must be very nearly of the same age as (1) :-Intermediate in colour between (1) and (3), but nearer to (3). (3) Three aged individuals (females, December); teeth worn ; two of them are at least 1| years old, the third (teeth vei-y much worn) still older:-Upper side, a shade of brown which might be described as " mars-brown " with a pronounced tinge of " drab " ; base of hairs light " ecru-drab" ; scarcely any indication of a horse-shoe patch ; under side liglit " wood-brown " with a tinge of " ecru-drab." In a series from the Hautes- Pyrenees (January) I find the same differences in colour, but have not been able to verify the comparative age of the individuals by means of the skulls. Three skins from Minorca (spring) are like the aged Swiss individuals or, if anything, a trifle lighter. The teeth are worn, showing the animals to be, probably, at least about two years old. Skins of aged individuals from England are indistinguishable from Swiss specimens of a like age. A very young (not full-grown) example from Somerset is quite like the younger (greyish-drab) individuals from Switzerland. As a general conclusion: young individuals are, broadly speaking, dark grey, old individuals brown ; the colour of the young animal is retained, at least in some individuals, till December, beyond the time when the epiphyses of the metacarpals have become ossified. For those who have an opportunity to watch these Bats in the caves during the winter, it would be an object of some interest to ascertain how the colour-change is effected, by a moult or by a recolouring of the hairs. Skull. The essential characters as in Rh. affinis, the general shape hardly different, but as a rule, of course, the skull is larger. The four anterior swellings are slightly more differentiated ; the median ones almost circular in outline, the lateral ones oblong. Chief character: the much longer palatal bridge: very nearly 5 the length of the maxillar tootli-row, a little more or less, but never so short as \ the tootli-row (as in affinis). Dentition. p:j external and exceedingly small, or, very often, lost, also in younger individuals. p2 and p4 in contact, p2 completely external, extremely small, not rarely lost, also in younger individuals. Upper canine and p4 not only in contact, but their cingula, as a rule, considerably overlapping each other (the cingula of p4 being external to that of the canine). Measurements. On p. 115. Distribution. From S. China and Japan, through the Himalayas, the Mediterranean Subregion (exclusive of Egypt), and Central Europe to S. England. Geographical races. There are, at least, six forms of Rh.ferrum- |