IfAMMALIA. 423 



colour of the upper parts contrasts sharply with the wliitc of the belly, instead of 

 p-ading into it. The fur above is basaUy duslcy-jjrey, thin, black, and finally fulvous- 

 brown, witli black extreme tips (size as in It. rnjicaudutus). 

 Inhabits tlie open country in Northcni I'egu. 



Order CHIROPTERA. 

 Tlie fore limbs with four elongated ulnar digits united by a membranous 

 extension of the integument, ilaramffi pectoral. 



■ Sub-order MEGACUlIlOPTEltA. 

 Fnigivoroua bats. 



Crowns of the molar teeth smooth, marked with a longitudinal furrow. Bony 

 palate continued behind the last molar. Index finger generally terminating in 

 a claw. Pyloric extremity of the stomach greatly elongated.' 



Fmgivorous. Limited to the tropical and subtropical regions of the Eastern 

 hemisphere and Polynesia. 



Family Pteropidse. 



Ptekopus, Brisson. 



Jfuzzle long, narrow and cylindrical. Upper lip with a vertical gi'oove in front, 

 bounded laterally by naked prominences. Index finger with u distinct claw. Tail 

 none. 



Dentition, I. \ ; C. ; ; P.M. ,' ; M. «. 



P. MEDius, Tem. 



P. Edwardsii, Geoffrey. 

 P. hucocepJialus, Hodgson. 

 F. Assamemis, MacClelland. 



Lcn-hwai. The Indian flying fox. 



The nape of the neck and shoulders are usually reddish yellow, or golden 

 yellow, or pale straw-colour; the varying colours depending on sex, age and season, 

 females being darker than males. The remainder of the fur is blackish or dark 

 brown, often grizzled with greyish hairs. 



Length of a male, head and body, 10-5 inches. 



"This large bat has been very appropriately named the "Flying fox," for it 

 bears a strong resemblance to a small fox in everything but its wings. Nor is it 

 very small. Adults measure from three to four feet across the wings from tip to tip. 

 They abound on the coast, and it is quite impossible to keep ripe fruit from their 

 depredations without inclosing it in basket-work." A good description of this animal 

 was given by Lieut. Tickell in the Calcutta Journal of Natural History, who remarks : 

 " It must have been a familiar sight to many to see some huge tree in the centre of 

 a village, on the skirts of a forest, or in the midst of a wide plain, garnished by hun- 

 dreds of the dangling bodies of these animals. A person stationed near such a spot 

 at the first break of dawn might see the Pteropi come stealing back to their retreat 

 from aU quarters. From the arrival of the first comer, until the sun is high above 

 the horizon, a scene of incessant wrangling and contention is enacted amongst them, 

 as each endeavours to secure a higher and better place, or to eject a neighbour from 

 too close vicinage. In these struggles the bats hook themselves along the branches, 

 scrambling about hand over hand with some speed, biting each other severely, 

 striking out, with the long claw of the thumb, and shrieking and cackling without 

 intermission. Each new arrival is compelled to fly several times round the tree, 



' The descriptions of species of tliis order are condensed from t)iose contained in the admirable 

 monograph of Asiatic Chiroptera by (i. U. Dobsou, M.A., F.L.S., ett., London, 187G. 



