NATURAL HISTORY OF SOUTH AFRICA 



When the food was placed in a dish upon the 

 ground, a great scramble ensued ; some of the bats 

 flew down, others hastily climbed down the branches 

 in the cage, hand over hand. Then they all began 

 to squabble, striking out at each other with their 

 claw-armed thumbs, and threatening one another 

 with gaping jaws. In the public parks and gardens 

 of Port Elizabeth and Walmer, these bats may be 

 seen and heard nightly. When calling to each other 

 the note is very high pitched, and sounds very much 

 like the metallic ringing noise produced by sharply 

 striking a blacksmith's anvil with a metal hammer. 

 They are, in consequence, called Anvil Bats. For 

 many years past in Natal and the Cape Provinces a 

 newspaper controversy has, at intervals, been waged 

 as to the origin of this shrill noise, so commonly 

 heard at night, the majority of people claiming that 

 it was the call of a bird. On one occasion I was bold 

 enough to write to the press and deny this assertion, 

 and mentioned that it was a Fruit Bat which was the 

 originator. I was instantly assailed by a score of 

 correspondents who wrote to the newspaper declar- 

 ing in the most positive terms that it was a bird — 

 the Anvil Bird. Many had seen it, and actually 

 described its appearance, which, in most cases, tallied 

 with the bird known as the Night Jar. Once an 

 erroneous popular belief gets established it is hard to 

 overthrow. For many years I have made it my 

 business with pen and tongue to attack erroneous 

 popular beliefs, and have brought down consider- 



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