20 



ROIISETTPS. 



^oot. — Tarso-metatarsal portion of foot, long : measured on 

 plantar surface equal to or more than two thirds the length of 

 phalanges with claw of third toe (compare Myonycteris). 



Pur. — In niosit species: fur ou bod}- short, adprcssed; face in 

 front of and below ejes very short-haired ; notopatagium naked ; 

 upperside of tibiae short-haired or naked. In three species (ll.cele- 

 bensis, avgolmsis, and lanosus) the coat is longer, velvet or (lanosus) 

 rather coarse ; face more distinctly haired ; notopatagium and 

 upperside of tibiae well haired. In all species the fur of the body 

 extends ou the proximal half or two thirds of the forearm. 



Sexual differentiation. — Inconsiderable. Glandular hairs on fore- 

 neck and sides of neck more brightly coloured in adult males of 

 certain species {E. angolensis, ample xicaudatus). Females seem to 

 average a trifle larger than males, but the difference, if any, is 

 infinitesimal. In some species (e. g. 11. leachi and lesc/ienaulti), of 

 which the majority of individuals are dark-coloured, specimens 

 occur which have the upperside more or less suffused with Prout's 

 brown or mars-brown, the underparts with wood-brown ; the 

 available material is not extensive enough to show v\hether this 

 colour-difference is sexual, dependent on age, or indicative of the 

 existence of two colour-phases. 



Range. — The African continent, exclusive of the Mediterranean 

 countries AV. of Egypt ; S. Asia, from Palestine and Cyprus to 

 S. China; the Indo- and Austro-Malayan Archipelagos, as far east 

 as the Solomon Islands. 



Habits.- — The fruit of £'rzo6oi/'2/rt ("Loquat') is the favourite food 

 of the S. African ii. leachi; when eating the bat throws itself on to 

 a neighbouring branch or su.spends itself on quivering wing.s, and 

 seizing the fruit in its mouth either bites a portion of it away at 

 once or pulls it off from its hold ; in this way it destroys far more 

 frait than it eats ; in default of fruit it devours in.';ects, snapping 

 them off the flow'ers and leaves without alighting. (Layard.) 



In Egypt, H. (Fgyptiams is found in ancient tombs and temples, 

 old mosques, and Sheiks' graves, or in crevices of rocks ; in the 

 days of Etienne Geoffroy it frequented the recesses of the Great 

 Pyramid, hut now (Dr. J. Anderson writes, in 1902) it is not found 

 in that building ; it is also met with in trees in gardens, and inj 



