SCOTOPHILUS PICATUS, Gould.
Pied Scotophilus.
Vespertilio—Little Black Bat, Sturt, Exp. into Central Australia, vol. ii. App., p. 9.
Scotophilus picatus, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., 1852.
This pretty little Bat, which is the smallest and one of the most interesting of the true Scotophili inhabiting Australia, is so rare, that the single specimen, procured by my friend Captain Sturt, during his late hazardous journey towards the centre of that country, is the only one that has come under my notice; and all the information at present known respecting it is contained in the following note, given in the Appendix to the second volume of Captain Sturt's valuable account of his expedition quoted above:—
"This diminutive little animal flew into my tent at the depot, attracted by the light. It is not common in that locality, or any other that we visited. It was of a deep black in colour, and had smaller ears than usual."
The whole of the fur both of the upper and under surface deep glossy black, with the exception of a crescentic mark of white which bounds the sides and the lower part of the abdomen; wing and tail membranes purplish brown.
The figures are of the natural size.
