VOL. XVIII, PP. 65-72 FEBRUARY 21, 1905
PROCEEDINGS
OF THE
BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON
NOTES ON BAHAMA BATS.
BY GLOVER M. ALLEN,
This is the second of a series of short papers based on mate
rial collected mainly during July 1904, , 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
in bluffs by the shore . These caverns varied in height from two
or three feet to ten feet or more, often with curious cylindrical
pits in their roofs. Others, again, were hollows in the 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 is of 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)
66 Allen Notes on Bahama Bats.
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 interior to
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 species of bats 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
of value.
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 of a North American species of wide distribution on
the continent. The red bat (Lasiurus borealis seminolus) is also
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 :
Allen Notes on Bahama Bats. 67
Vespertilio fuscus bahamensis Miller.
Vespertilio fuscus bahamensis Miller. North Amer. Fauna, No. 13, p. 101 , figs.
246,256,266. Oct. 16, 1897.
On June 29 we discovered a small colony of these bats in one of the under
ground chambers of old Fort Charlotte, at Nassau, New Providence. This
is the type-locality for the subspecies, and we did not meet with it else
where. The bats were clustered in a cone-shaped cavity in the ceiling
where the limestone rock of the dungeon had become broken away. They
were not at all inclined to leave their retreat, but when disturbed simply
endeavored to crawl still farther back into the cleft. By placing a net
over the opening of this cavity we were able to dislodge a number into it
with the aid of a pole. Of the 24 specimens preserved, 8 are adult males
and 4 are adult females, 4 are young males and 8 are young females.
Lasiurus borealis seminolus (Rhoads).
Atalapha borealis seminola Rhoads. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci., Phila., 1895, p. 32.
Lasiurus borealis seminolus Miller. North Amer. Fauna, No. 13, p. 109, Oct.
16, 1897.
? Lasiurus borealis pfeifferi (Gundlach) Miller. North Amer. Fauna, No. 13,
p. 110, Oct. 16, 1897, Part.
A single female specimen of the Red Bat was captured by Mr. Bryant in
the first week of August, at Nassau, where it had flown into a dwelling-house.
The specimen was skinned out from alcohol after a two months' immer
sion and both skin and skull were then carefully compared with specimens
of L. 6. seminolus from Enterprise, Fla. The Bahama specimen is practi
cally indistinguishable in color and proportions from the small, mahogany-
red Florida race, and the skulls of the two also agree. When Mr. Miller
wrote his Review of the Vespertilionidae of North America, he had but a
single skull of the Red Bat from the Bahamas. This skull (from Nassau)
he referred doubtfully to the Cuban subspecies, L. 6. pfeifferi. Our speci
men, however, seems referable to the Florida form.
Nyctinomus bahamensis Rehn.
Nyctinomus baJiamensis Rehn. 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 islands of Eleuthera and Little Abaco. We found a
large colony at the latter island and a second at Marsh Harbor, on Great
Abaco. In both these cases the bats had established themselves in build
ings used as stores and roofed with fluted sheets of galvanized iron. The
fluting offered small holes for entrance to the space left between
the sheathing and the exterior of the building, and here the little creatures
68 Allen Notes on Bahama Bats.
were clustered in most cases quite beyond our reach. One or two individ
uals, however, I captured in my hands between the rafters and the roofing.
Both colonies were visited during the daytime and seemed much awake, as
a constant sharp chippering came from their quarter. Their musty odor,
characteristic of this family of bats, as well as their continual ill-natured
bickering drive the store-keepers to smoke them out at intervals. As
many as 500 were said to have been smoked out and beaten down just
previous to our visit to the Great Abaco colony. Notwithstanding this
destruction, there seemed to be still a considerable remnant. One female
specimen taken July 7, at Marsh Harbor, contained a large foetus nearly
ready for birth. The bat colony at Little Abaco inhabited the space
between the sheathing and the roofing at the store of Mr. Roberts. On
the evening of July 10, shortly after sunset, I stationed myself outside the
building to observe the animals as they came forth for their nightly foray.
The squeaking and scrambling underneath the roof had now become much
louder than before. As nightfall approached, the commotion grew more
intense, and presently one or two bats swooped out from beneath the roof
ing and flew swiftly away into the dusk. Singly, or two and three at a
time, from all sides of the building they now came forth and dispersed in
different directions. Shortly after, a slight shower came on and with it a
breeze, but although I watched until it was quite dark, 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 to their roost at a little before sunrise in
the morning, and further, that on windy or rainy nights but few seemed to
leave the shelter of the building.
In the series of 6 skins preserved there is a slight variation in color that
appears to be correlated with sex, for the females are a uniform Prouts'
brown, while the males are nearly a Broccoli brown.
Chilonatalus tumidifrons Miller.
Chilonaiulustumidifrons'M.iller. Proc. Biol. Soc., Washington, vol. 16, p. 119,
Sept. 30, 1903.
Mr. Miller has recently made known this delicately-formed species from
four specimens collected July 12, 1903, at Watling's Island by the Bahama
Expedition of the Geographical Society of Baltimore. It is with pleasure,
therefore, that we are able to report it from a second locality, Great Abaco,
thus extending the known range some 200 miles northwest, to the north
ern islands of the group. Our colony inhabited a cave at Israel's Point, on
the northeastern shore of the island. The entrance to this cave was
through a narrow sloping passage, leading down with a slight turn to a
small underground chamber some eight feet high, and quite dark. Here,
on July 7, I estimated that about 300 bats were hanging from the rough
limestone of the sides and roof of the cave. As my guide and I entered
with our lantern, those nearest at hand began to flit back and forth keep-
Allen Notes on Bahama Bats. 69
ing up a faint twittering, and finally alighted again in the more distant
parts of the cavern. A few retreated through a small crevice which doubt
less led into a second chamber. I noticed repeatedly that as the bats alighted
they at first clung to the rock with botli hind feet, but after obtaining a
secure hold, they let go one foot, and hung suspended by one slender limb
only. Of the 56 specimens captured, all were males, a fact which indicates
that, as with many species of bats, the sexes segregate when not breeding,
and that this was a male colony. After the 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 of Phyllonycteris
planifrons. Some two weeks later while returning from our cruise among
the northern cays, we again stopped in at Israel's Point and I made a sec
ond visit to the cave. To my surprise not one of the little Chilonatalus
could be found, but instead a colony of from one to two hundred Phyllo-
nycteris planifrons was in undisputed possession. The meaning of this I
was unable to learn. According to my guide this cave had been discov
ered some twenty years or more ago when the ground had been in use as
a pineapple plantation. It had always been used by the bats so far as he
knew and was visited periodically by the planters in order to procure the
guano as well as the cave earth that washes in.
Our specimens agree precisely with the original description as given by
Mr. Miller. Two types of coloration were noticeable, however, due per
haps to age, for a number of the specimens, though adult, had not acquired
the bright yellowish tint but were nearly drab above with the hairs lighter
at their bases.
Otopterus waterhousii compressus (Eehn).
Macrotm waterhousii compressus Rehn. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci., Phila., 1904,
p. 434.
The Bahama Otopterus has been recorded from Andros, Long Island,
New Providence, and Eleuthera. It has not yet been taken, apparently,
among the northern islands of the group. We found but a single colony.
This was at Nassau, New Providence, and must have numbered someseventy-
five or more individuals. They occupied a portion of the ceiling in one of
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 bats were alert
and active. By the light of a broken lamp we could make out the colony
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 of the dungeon, flying from room to room, or
back and forth between two chambers as we continued our exploration.
Gosse, in writing of the Jamaican Otopterus, calls attention to its sub-
70 Allen Notes on Bahama Bats.
terranean propensities, and says that when living in houses, these bats
invariably take up their abode in the cellar. We were interested to ob
serve that none of these bats at the fort appeared to fly out into the light
of day, but a number, on the 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 well cut 103 feet deep in one of
the underground chambers, and in so doing disturbed a number of the
bats which had taken refuge at some depth in the shaft of the well. They
emerged singly from the narrow mouth of the shaft as the bucket pro
gressed downward. Several of these bats which we had taken alive were
carried to our hotel. At frequent intervals they uttered a short sharp trill,
very similar to the sound produced by rapidly running up a squeaky cur
tain-roller.
The young bats were much darker than the adults, almost a clove-brown
on the back, and their faces were almost without hair.
Specimens. 7 adult females and 1 young male (skins) 2 adult; females,
G young males, and 2 young females (alcoholic).
Phyllonycteris planifrons Miller.
Phylloni/cteris planifrons Miller. Proc. Biol. Soc., Washington, vol. 13, p.
34, May 29, 1899.
This is a common species in the Bahamas. It was described five years
ago by Mr. Miller on the strength of 124 specimens all from the same lime
stone cave a few miles from Nassau, New Providence. In addition to the
colony at Israel's Point, Great Abaco. mentioned in connection with the
colony of Chilonntalu* we also visited a much larger one at Hurricane
Hole, on the northeastern coast of Great Abaco. Here is a series of large
open caves in a limestone bluff some 50 feet high or more. A small pas
sage leads from the far end of one of these caves, and by means of this ac
cess is gained to a high vaulted chamber. A second and smaller chamber
leads off from the first after turning a right angle. No ray of light pene
trates these inner caverns. Everywhere our lantern disclosed hundreds
of the Phyllonycteris clinging singly or in clusters to the walls and ceiling
of the cave, and they were apparently the only species inhabiting it. I
captured and examined a number of the bats. There were adults of both
sexes in the cave, and many of the females had each a single young one
still suckling, though about losing the last of the milk teeth. These young
bats were very dark clove brown above becoming light drab below. A
number of specimens were taken which showed various transitional stages
of pelage from that of the young to a more mature stage having a curious
patchy mixture of clove brown and vinaceous cinnamon above and drab
beneath.
The colony at Marsh Harbor, visited July 20, also consisted of both
sexes, but of the 18 specimens taken, only 2 were females. All the bats
in this colony seemed to be adults.
Allen Notes on Bahama Bats. 71
As with some other species mentioned, many of these bats when at rest
clung by one foot only. They are of a quarrelsome disposition and bite
vigorously when handled. Their bickerings were audible even before we
reached the mouth of their cave and it is evident that the colony, though
resting, is much awake even in the daylight hours. A number of them
were found to have one or both ears truncated near the tip in so regular
a fashion as to make it seem that there were two types of ear-outline among
them. The occurrence of some individuals with only one clipped ear,
however, might indicate that this shape is due to accidental loss of the
point of that organ through its having been bitten off by one of the quar
relsome company.
Specimens. 12 adult and 2 young males (skins) 3 adult females; (skins) 4;
adult females and 7 males (alcoholic), 2 young females and 2 young males
(alcoholic).