THE COLLARED FLYING FOX 



of these Collared Flying Foxes under careful obser- 

 vation. Swooping down from aloft, a bat would drop 

 noisily into the tree. Then another and another, 

 until perhaps half a dozen had alighted. On first 

 settling, a twig was gripped with one or both hind 

 feet and, aided by the thumbs on the shoulders of the 

 wings, the bat climbed through the foliage until it 

 reached the coveted fruit. Sometimes several bats 

 approached the same bunch of loquats. When this 

 occurred there was much squabbling, accompanied 

 by discordant squeaks and chattering. On the 

 whole, the Collared Flying Fox is more destructive 

 to fruit than its cousin, for the reason that it has a 

 habit of hovering with quivering wings over a fruit 

 and taking bites out of it. In consequence it dis- 

 lodges great quantities, which fall to the ground, and 

 of course their market value is spoilt;, for even if they 

 have not been bitten, they are more or less bruised 

 by falling. 



This bat gives birth to one young at a birth, which 

 clings with its hind claws to the lower part of the 

 mother's body, with its face buried in the fur of the 

 parent's breast, and one of the teats in its mouth. 

 In this manner, aided by its thumbs, it clings so 

 tightly that it requires some little effort to pull it 

 away from the parent's body. 



There is another species of fruit bat in South 

 Africa known as the Yellow Fruit Bat (Etdolo?i 

 helvum) . It differs but little from the Collared Fruit 

 Bat. It is slightly larger, and its fur has a yellowish 



93 



