SOiME INSECT EATERS 79 



and haunches. That they attack human beings sleeping 

 unprotected out of doors is not imj^robable. Many of the 

 bats have a disagreeable odor, almost overpowering in some 

 instances. The largest bats arc fruit eaters. 



The kalong, or flying fox, of Java, Sumatra, and the 

 Pacific Archipelago, is from four to five feet across the 

 wings. Several of ithese interesting creatures which I had 

 access to, became very tame, and so far from resenting 

 handling welcomed it. They would put out their foxlike 

 heads to have them scratched, and would scratch my hand 

 with the powerful hook. Their eyes are large, clear, and 

 attractive. Their ears, too, are large. In fact, these ani- 

 mals resemble small foxes endowed with wings. They 

 ordinarily cling to the roost by their feet, head downward, 

 and in walking present an extraordinary appearance, ad- 

 vancing the hooked forearm, clinging to the limbs by it 

 and a foot, and thus making remarkable headway. In 

 their native woods they consort in flocks, and when resting 

 appear like fruit hanging from the branches. They often 

 do great damage in banana orchards. Those observed by 

 me possessed a disagreeable musky odor so strong that 

 their presence could be detected some distance away. 



The bats are very solicitous for their young, and when 

 robbed they have been known to follow the little one for 

 a long distance, and even alight upon the robber and per- 

 mit themselves to be captured rather than desert it. In 

 many species both male and female care for the young, 

 and when two are born, the male of a certain species holds 

 the little one in a pouch. 



One of the largest of the insect-eating mammals is the 

 colugo, a large, foxlike animal which resembles a flying 



