62 SPOLIA ZEYLANICA 



NOTES. 



1. Leaves from my Log. — 



Flying Foxes (Pteropus medius) at Barheryn. — On February 23, 

 1907, I had another opportunity of landing on Barheryn Island 

 to have a look at the flying foxes. Of thirteen specimens obtained, 

 eleven were males and two females ; of the males, only one seemed 

 to be old by the appearance of the teeth, the others being young 

 adults. One of the females was shgt singly, the other was hanging 

 alongside a male (? her mate), and both came down to one shot ; 

 each female contained a single well-developed foetus in utero. The 

 presence of these females renders necessary an amendment to 

 my previous note on these bats (Spolia, IV., 36.) 



Besides wishing to ascertain the sexes of the individuals in this 

 colony, I was desirous of obtaining more specimens of the Nycteribia 

 {N. sykesii) parasitic on these bats, and in this was quite successful. 

 Not a single bat was wholly free from these insects. Some of the 

 male bats only harboured three or four Nycteribia , but the average 

 was about a dozen ; of the females, one had about half a dozen, 

 the other a single individual only. Perhaps this points to the fact 

 that the male bat is more attractive to the parasite than the female, 

 probably on account of the blood in the latter being temporarily 

 poorer owing to the drain on the system caused by reproduction. 



The roosting habits of these bats and crows in Barheryn has a 

 very noticeable effect on the trees they affect. The branches of 

 the coco-palms have a most ragged and bedraggled appearance, 

 practically only the ribs of the leaves being left. 



Gicindela hiramosa. — This handsome " Tiger-beetle " seems to be 

 abundant along the sandy beaches all round the Island. It is 

 especially fond of running along the damp sand on the very edge 

 of the water, having indeed to take to wing sometimes to escape 

 a wave ; but, as a rule, it does not seem to fly much. I have watched 

 one for about half an hour, during which time it only flew twice, 

 and then only for a few inches. A small gray muscid fly is common 

 in the same localities as the beetle, and is often its victim. I have 

 seen one or two beetles make a clumsy attempt at a fly, but they 

 were always unsuccessful ; usually they catch the flies on the wing, 

 in which case their movements are too swift to follow. On several 

 occasions I have seen a Gicindela crawl under a piece of wood or 

 similar substance, which was lying on the beach, as if in search of 

 Gammarid shrimps. 



Gicindela trilunaris, from Madagascar, is stated to have the power 

 of running upon water, and it occurred to me that probably 



