320 THE MONTHLY BULLETIN. 



into Jamaica and other tropical islands for the purpose of ridding cane fields 

 of rats. The annual loss which the island of Jamaica formerly suffered on 

 account of the ravages of the introduced black rats (Mux rarrits) and brown 

 rats (J/, (lecumanus), and the so-called 'cane-piece rat.' including the expense 

 of destroying these pests, was estimated at £100,000, or $500,000. Various 

 remedies were tried, but apparently with little success, until in February, 1S72, 

 Mr. W. Bancroft Espeut introduced nine individuals of the mongoose, four males 

 and five females, from India. These animals increased with remarkable rapidity, 

 and soon spread to all parts of the island, even to the tops of the highest moun- 

 tains. A decrease in the number of rats was soon noticeable, and in 1882. ten 

 years after the first introduction, the saving to the sugar planters was said to 

 be £45,000 or $225,000. per annum. 



"Still the mongoose increased, and its omnivorous habits became more and 

 more apparent as the rats diminished. It destroyed young pigs. kids, lambs, 

 kittens, puppies, the native 'coney' poultry, game, birds which nested on or near 

 the ground, eggs, snakes, ground lizards, frogs, turtles' eggs, and land crabs. It 

 was also known to eat ripe bananas, pineapples, young corn, avocado pears, sweet 

 potatoes, cocoanuts, and other fruits. Toward the close of the second decade 

 the mongoose, originally considered very beneficial, came to be regarded as the 

 greatest pest ever introduced into the island. Poultry and domesticated animals 

 suffered from its depredations, and the short-tailed capromys, which was for- 

 merly numerous, became almost extinct except in some of the mountainous 

 districts. The ground dove and the quail dove became rare, and the introduced 

 bobwhite, or quail, was almost exterminated. The peculiar Jamaica petrel 

 (Estrelata caribbwa), which nested in the mountains of the island, likewise 

 became almost exterminated. Snakes, represented by at least five species, all 

 harmless, and lizards, including about twenty species, wore greatly diminished 

 in numbers. The same thing was true of the land and fresh-water tortoises and 

 the marine turtle which formerly laid its eggs in abundance in the loose sand 

 on the north coast. The destruction of insectivorous birds, snakes, and lizards 

 was followed by an increase in several injurious insects, particularly ticks, 

 which became a serious pest, and a coccid moth, the larva? of which bore into the 

 pimento trees. In 1800 a commission was appointed by the government to con- 

 sider whether measures should be taken to reduce the number of the animals, 

 and the evidence collected showed conclusively that the evil results of the intro- 

 duction of the mongoose far outweighed the benefits rendered to the sugar and 

 coffee plantations." 



FLYING FOXES. 



The interesting and destructive bat, a full page illustration of which appears in 

 (his issue, would be a serious menace should it be introduced and become established 

 in California. Therefore, its importation is prohibited by the State Quarantine Law. 

 The following description is copied from the Yearbook of the Department of Agri- 

 culture for 1898 : 



"Flying foxes belong to the genus Picropus, one of the best known groups of 

 fruit-eating bats. The genus includes some fifty species which are found in the 

 tropics of the Old World from Madagascar and the Comoro Islands east to 

 Australia, and Samoan Islands, and north to India, Malay Archipelago, and 

 southern Japan. Five species occur in Australia, two of them as far north as 

 New South Wales, but none are found in New Zealand or in the Hawaiian 

 Islands. The largest species is the Kalong or Malay fruit bat (Pteropvs edulis) 

 which measures more than five feet across the tips of the wings. 



"The Australian bats are described as living in immense communities or 

 'camps' in the most inaccessible parts of the dense scrub of gullies and swamps. 

 Here they may be seen by thousands, frequently crowded so thickly on the trees 

 that large branches arc broken by their weight. They fly considerable distances 

 in search of food, sallying forth in flocks about sunset and returning to their 

 camps before dawn. In New South Wales, and more especially in Queensland, 

 flying foxes are one of the worst pests of the fruit grower, and are described 

 as a plague which threatens the fruit-growing industry in a large part of 

 Australia. They are particularly injurious to figs, bananas, peaches, and other 

 soft fruits, and it is estimated that the damage done to orchards in the coast 

 district of New South Wales amounts to thousands of pounds annually." 



