SO 



THE WING-HANDED ANIMALS. 



as in a cloak. One may find hundreds of them in 

 hollow trees. They sometimes fly about during the 

 day in gloomy virgin forests, although activity prop- 

 erly begins for them at dusk. Their keen vision 

 and excellent scent direct them to trees possessing 

 particularly juicy and ripe fruit ; they come to it 

 singly at first, but presently the swarm collects in 

 large numbers and soon divests a tree of all its fruit. 

 They often make raids upon vineyards, where they 

 do great damage. They eat only the sweet, ripe fruit, 

 leaving what is less developed for the other fruit- 

 eating" animals. Sometimes they undertake migra- 

 tions^ flying from one island to another. They suck 

 the fruit dry, rather than eat it ; for they spit out the 

 dry pulp. When they make a raid on an orchard 

 they eat all through the night, making a noise that 



LONG-EARED BAT. 



found in middle Europe and parts of Asia, in their favorite haunt, 

 brought out in the flying and the crouching examples. These ears are 

 of sleeping is shown in the third animal, whose ears project far belo 

 (Plecotus auritus.) 



may be heard at a considerable distance. The re- 

 port of a gun does not disturb them, further than 

 sometimes to cause them to flutter to an adjoining 

 tree, where they resume their interrupted meal. 



They scream a great deal, even when movelessly 

 suspended from the trees. Their voice has a peculiar 

 creaky or shrieking sound and sometimes they hiss 

 like geese. 



The female gives birth to one or two young ones 

 at a time, at intervals of a year. The infants attach 

 themselves to their mother's breast, and she carries 



them about with her, bestowing upon them her ten- 

 derest care. 



In captivity these Bats may be tamed and will then 

 show a certain attachment for their keepers. 



Because of their fruit-eating habits they do more 

 harm than good ; yet, in a country that is rich in 

 fruit their devastations ought not to weigh heavily 

 against them. Haacke finds that their flesh is deli- 

 cate, and tastes like that of Rabbits and Chickens. 

 Their fur is also sometimes u ;ed by the natives. 

 The Kalong, The largest of the Fruit-eaters is the 

 Largest of Kalong {Pteropus edulis), his body 

 Flying Dog Bats, being over fifteen inches long, while 

 his spread of wings may be four feet, eight inches. 

 His color is brown-black, the under parts assuming a 

 russet tinge, much lighter than the upper portion. 



The Kalong is a na- 

 tive of the Indian is- 

 lands, especially Java, 

 Sumatra, Banda and 

 Timor ; living either in 

 large forests or in the 

 groves of fruit trees 

 which surround all the 

 Javanese villages. Oc- 

 casionally these Bats 

 cover the branches in 

 such numbers as to con- 

 ceal the bark. In the 

 evening they arouse 

 from their sleep and 

 flutter away, each flying 

 a little distance from 

 the other. 



Rosenberg writes 

 from Sumatra : " The 

 Kalong is one of the 

 commonest of animals, 

 as well on the coast as 

 in the depths of the is- 

 land. These Bats live 

 gregariously and fly in 

 numerous flocks at sun- 

 set in search of food. 

 During my stay at Lu- 

 mut, a flock flew reg- 

 ularly by the little fort 

 every evening, return- 

 ing to its sleeping place 

 before sunrise. I once 

 fired a shot at a female 

 flying rather low; a 

 young one attached to 

 her breast fell down, 

 but before it could 

 reach the ground the 

 mother, which followed 

 it with lightning-like 

 rapidity, had caught it 

 in her teeth, rose again 

 in the air and hurried away with her little one." 



The food of these Bats consists of all varieties of 

 fruits, especially figs and mangoes, and they often do 

 considerable mischief in the Javanese orchards. Yet 

 they by no means confine themselves to vegetable 

 food, for they also hunt insects and small vertebrata. 

 Shortt has, to his great surprise, seen them eating 

 fish. " During my stay in Conlieveram," says he, 

 " my attention was attracted by a little pond that 

 owed its existence to a recent shower of rain. It 

 swarmed with little fishes, playing in the water and 



which are the common English Bat. although 

 l great barn, and the mighty ears are strongly 

 nearly as long as the entire body. The manner 

 v the body although the head is well drawn up. 



